Mayor Nutter Announces The Philadelphia Food Access Collaborative, Who Will Try To Clear Up That Whole Outdoor Feeding Thing
Remember when the Mayor didn’t want anyone feeding homeless people outside? That was weird. And when the public feeding ban was … well … banned, Nutter had two options. He could double down on the ban and try to stick to it, or he could take the judge’s ruling and try to work with people to make feeding the homeless in Philadelphia as organized and effective as possible. The Dude being The Dude, he went with option number two.
Today it was announced that the Mayor has founded the Philadelphia Food Access Collaborative, whose stated goal is to “address the recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force on Outdoor Serving of Food to improve access to free meals for individuals in need.” While outdoor feeding is not illegal, the collaborative’s main goal will be to increase access to indoor feeding, and it will aim to, in brief:
>>> Increase the availability of meals at existing indoor meal service sites
>>> Coordinate meal schedules to eliminate gaps in service
>>> Identify opportunities for new space for meal service
>>> Connect individuals to meals and other social service resources
>>> Raise the visibility of these issues
>>> Fundraise in support of these efforts
Members of the collaborative include Bill Clark (President and Executive Director, Philabundance), Adam Bruckner (Director, Philadelphia Restart), and Carey Morgan (Executive Director, Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger), among a few more people who really know what they’re doing.
