Blog | Myrtle Beach homeless advocates hit another potential roadblock
A small group of residents that has been passionately advocating for homeless people in the Myrtle Beach area for years say they’ve run into another roadblock - from the city.
A few weeks ago, we reported that the group had begun hosting an emergency overnight shelter for homeless people on particularly cold nights.
But early last week, they were sent a message by the fire marshal, who questioned them about safety features, such as the number of entrances and exits, in the church that hosts the emergency shelter-food project. Since that time, they have not been able to house homeless people at Sun Coast Christian Church and instead have had to cobble together money to put up about 25 homeless people in area hotels during some of the coldest nights the area has experienced so far this winter.
They desperately don’t want anyone else to meet an end like William Henry Jr., who froze to death in an abandoned building this winter.
George Lorenz, one of the group’s organizers, said they are compelled by their religious faith to help those in need - nothing more, nothing less.
“We just believe that it’s our right to take care of these people,” he said. “You are violating our rights to practice our beliefs. We cost [the city] nothing. We probably save them money.”
They are bracing for a visit from the fire marshal Tuesday morning but have already asked for legal guidance and were told they were doing nothing wrong. If fire officials aren’t inspecting every church that hosts an overnight lock-in of some sort, why is Sun Coast being scrutinized?
“The fire marshal inspects properties for life safety issues and code compliance,” said Myrtle Beach Spokesman Mark Kruea. “That's a good thing.”
The group, though, feels it has been singled out. It’s dispute with the city is an ongoing one. Their efforts grew out of Occupy Myrtle Beach and began at Withers Swash park. They then began providing meals for homeless people at Chapin Park for several months before being fined $263.
They disputed the fine but lost during a court case in which they were represented by the ACLU, though the fine was dropped.
Since then, they’ve been cooking meals and delivering them by bicycle and car to homeless people throughout Myrtle Beach, and Sun Coast Church began partnering with them to serve food and provide shelter for particularly cold nights.
Myrtle Beach has its own homeless outreach programs and those they support, including New Directions, Street Reach and the Community Kitchen.
But the Sun Coast Church group says there are plenty of holes in those programs, and they are trying to catch those who aren’t caught by the safety net.
They don’t want another fight; they simply want to help.
Given that, why do they so often have to overcome seemingly unnecessary roadblocks?
This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Blog | Myrtle Beach homeless advocates hit another potential roadblock."