A planned meal for the needy and homeless at the Jericho Way Homeless Day Resource Center in Little Rock on Monday has been canceled.
A citizen committee overseeing plans to relocate some dinners for the homeless to the city-owned resource center property had planned to start a 90-day trial Monday.
The group wanted to work with volunteer groups that are part of the Broadway Bridge Project, which serve meals four nights per week at From His Throne Ministries downtown on West Markham Street, to move those dinners to Jericho Way.
The city has agreed to set up an outdoor tent on resource center property for the dinners. The city also said it would offer a van service from downtown to the resource center, about 4 miles away, at the nightly mealtimes.
The plan to move the feedings to Jericho Way was part of a deal proposed by the citizen committee to shelve a contentious, proposed city ordinance that would have restricted meals for the homeless in the city's 63 public parks. The Broadway Bridge Project previously fed homeless people on parkland under the Broadway Bridge until it was closed off because of bridge construction.
The meal relocation also follows increased police activity and surveillance near From His Throne Ministries after a business owner near the downtown church site complained to the mayor about alleged criminal activity committed frequently by homeless people near her business.
No new date has been set for the homeless dinners to begin at Jericho Way.
"The Sept. 11 date was simply a target date that the volunteer committee set weeks ago as a goal," committee Chairman Jordan Johnson said. "Inevitably, the pertinent meetings with the various stakeholders have taken more time to schedule than expected."
Asked if the plan was to still do a 90-day trial at some point, Johnson said, "It is one option being strongly considered by the committee."
Most of the 20 or so organizations that alternate serving meals at From His Throne Ministries haven't agreed to work with the city committee or move their dinners. Six of the groups that serve about 100 people every meal have agreed to try out the new location, but the others have declined, said Elizabeth Dowell, who coordinates the Broadway Bridge Project.
Jericho Way would be closed at the time the dinners are served. The resource center offers services to the homeless such as social workers; help getting IDs, employment and job training; and access to showers and a place to cool off during the day.
Metro on 09/09/2017