The College Perspective by Lindsey

When someone brings up the homeless in this country, it’s often to complain about how nothing is being done or a random act of kindness someone showed to someone living on the streets.

While homelessness is a huge problem in this country and something must be done, my anger at this situation comes more from the red tape stopping people from helping.

Kansas City, Missouri officials recently responded to resident’s complaints of people serving food to homeless in the area once a week in a local park by pouring bleach on the food. Residents had become increasingly concerned that rising levels of homeless people would increase the level of crime within the community.

The group serving the food, called Free Hot Soup Kansas City, posts the time and location of their food drops every week on Facebook. After they started serving food this past week, officials told them they couldn’t serve food without a permit and poured bleach on the food because it was “unsafe.”

Even though the Free Hot Soup group tried to save the food by claiming the homeless as their friends and defining their event as a picnic, it wasn’t enough for the health officials.

Over 554,000 people in the United States are homeless in 2018. Besides that, 1 in 8 Americans have incomes that put them at risk for food insecurity.

With these numbers, it’s hard to have sympathy for these bleach pouring officials. In fact, the Health Department stated that future violations of this kind could result in citations or court appearances. However, the strict guidelines for food permits are nearly impossible for volunteer groups to follow. Many don’t have the resources or time to comply with a designated kitchen and clean environment for cooking.

This latest step by officials shows a dire need for restructuring the bounds of government officials, volunteer organizations, and where they can work together to eliminate a common problem. Since many like to use the American homeless as a political talking point, maybe it’s time we actually do something to help instead of talk. If people are willing to help, let them help.