Costa Mesa Soup Kitchen Searches for a New Home

COSTA MESA —  Like the hundreds of people they serve every day, the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen soon may not have a home.

The group said Friday it has been given until April 1, just shy of its 10-year anniversary, to move out of the First United Methodist Church on 19th Street, where it has been dishing out lunch to the poor and homeless for the last four years.

Someone Cares is the last organization in the city that serves meals to the poor. The charity Share Our Selves recently ended its lunch program at the pleading of residents and businesses, who said the handouts contributed to crime and vagrancy in the city.

The Rev. Steve Isenman, pastor at First United Methodist, said similar complaints about people congregating outside the church in the heart of downtown Costa Mesa forced the church leadership to discontinue housing the soup kitchen.

“There certainly has been some concern about the homeless, and we want to be good neighbors,” Isenman said. “Perhaps a commercial district is not appropriate for them, and that an industrial district would be a better place for them to do this type of work.”

The number of people lining up for soup, salad and bread at Someone Cares has grown significantly in recent years as the homeless population has grown. There has been a huge increase in the past year, which volunteers attribute both to the rise in the overall homeless population and the fact that Share Our Selves shut down last spring.

Art Rorden, a soup kitchen volunteer, said Someone Cares served an average of 250 to 300 people a day last year, primarily through public donations. In 1992, the figure was about 100. And as the crowds have grown, the community’s tolerance has declined.

Mayor Joe Erickson said the city, concerned about its rising crime rate, asked the soup kitchen not to serve known criminals and drug addicts. Although the number of police calls subsequently declined, complaints about vagrancy continued.

Erickson said the city has supported Someone Cares financially and would consider doing so again if it improves in weeding out criminals and drug addicts.

The United Methodist Church also voiced its support for the activities of Someone Cares.

Isenman said the church will help Someone Cares scout for a new location.

“We are strong supporters, but need to change the way we show our support,” Isenman said.

Soup kitchen volunteers said their search for a new home has been frustrating.

“We have contacted all the other churches in the area and no other church wants us,” Rorden said.