Southeast : Neighbors Complain About Church Food Program

A soup kitchen in Uptown Whittier is drawing criticism from residents and businesses who contend that the church-run program attracts vagrants.

Neighbors of St. Matthias Episcopal Church recently presented to the City Council a petition with 250 signatures calling for termination or relocation of the 12-year-old food program.

Although the council has not taken action to stop the program, city officials hope to resolve the conflict with meetings between church leaders and the Uptown Assn., a business group that has criticized the afternoon program.

“It’s a situation where the church needs to work with its neighbors,” said assistant city manager Doug Chotkevys.

Church officials admit that there are problems with the program, such as trash and urination in the neighborhood despite church-led cleanup efforts. But they also cite restrictions against feeding people who arrive drunk or who panhandle.

Bill Krenz, senior warden at St. Matthias, said the church would agree to give up the five-day-a-week program if a similar service is organized elsewhere in the city.

“Our feeling is these people need food. We want to make sure they get it,” he said. “If another organization wants to do it, that’s fine.”

Meanwhile, neighbors of the Washington Avenue church are becoming impatient. They have complained periodically since the feeding program began. Business owners have joined the effort to stop the program.

“Word travels that Whittier is . . . a good place to be a transient,” said Beverly Ball, chairwoman of the Uptown Assn.’s Community Welfare Committee. “It creates a magnet.”

Ball and a representative of the Interfaith Council, a coalition of congregations in the city, said discussions are focusing on developing a one-stop service center that could eliminate the need for church-based feeding programs.