Pitch set to move homeless meals

The Little Rock committee overseeing plans to relocate some dinners for the homeless to city-owned property will attempt to persuade more volunteer groups to give it a try.

David Deere, a member of the committee and co-chairman of the Arkansas Homeless Commission, said faithbased groups that currently take turns serving supper at a downtown Little Rock church have been invited to a pitch meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 S. Louisiana St.

The committee was formed to study a proposed ordinance that would have restricted meals for the homeless in the city’s 63 parks. In an effort to avoid the law, the group of business leaders, homeless advocates and city officials suggested moving some of the near-daily suppers across town as part of a 90-day trial set to start Sept. 11.

The volunteer groups are part of the Broadway Bridge Project, a partnership of about 20 organizations that has traditionally served meals under the overpass, which is technically city park space. The location shifted to From His Throne Ministries on West Markham Street during a bridge replacement project that is nearly finished.

The relocated suppers are planned for property behind the city-funded Springer Boulevard homeless resource center Jericho Way, which will be closed when the meals are served.

Little Rock will rent a tent and erect temporary lighting for the site, Assistant City Manager James Jones said. The city will also expand its existing van service to shuttle people back and forth between downtown Little Rock and Jericho Way on evenings when dinner is served.

Six of the groups that serve roughly 100 people four nights a week at From His Throne have agreed to try out the new location but others have declined, said Elizabeth Dowell, who coordinates the groups.