A downtown Dallas church is trying to help the homeless by opening their parking lot to them at night. The First Presbyterian Church provides a security guard and two portable toilets, and has declared their parking lot a safe zone where the homeless can sleep without being hassled by Dallas Police.
Dallas is not the best city to be homeless in, as they have recently tended to criminalize many activities of the homeless, as well as not having nearly enough beds in existing night shelters. While there are around 5,000 homeless people in Dallas, there are only 1,300 available beds.
In addition to the police rousting those who must sleep on the streets, Dallas has outlawed panhandling, banned shopping carts on city streets and restricted feeding the homeless to only certain designated areas.
Senior pastor of the church, Rev. Joe Clifford, says, "The problem is with our approach to the homeless. We continue to approach the homeless issue as a criminal issue. While there are criminal elements within the homeless population, it is a social problem and requires a societal response."
The church realizes this is only a temporary solution. Clifford is calling for more long-term investment. He wants the city government, business interests and community churches to get together and try to find solutions to the homeless problem. It will really help when a city homeless shelter opens in April.
Until then, the church is using its parking lot as a sanctuary where the homeless can sleep in a safe environment without being hassled by police. So far, the Dallas police have cooperated. They have not bothered anyone or tried to arrest anyone on the church property.
Deputy Police Chief Golbeck says he doesn't really condone the "safe zone", but understands the church has its mission. He did however, rather ominously wonder if other city departments might not determine the church didn't have the proper permits to continue providing the sanctuary.
Sounds like he knows it would be bad PR for the police to break up the "safe zone" and expects the city to find another way to do it.
Be careful Reverend. In Texas, most good deeds don't go unpunished.
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