Soup Kitchen Operation Needs a Home : * Dana Point Should Not Bend Rules but Help Find New Location for Valuable Service

Marc Ely-Chaitlin doesn’t have much patience, but he does have a lot of heart. Unable to sit still while others went hungry, Ely-Chaitlin, who is president of the nonprofit Mildred-Rose Memorial Foundation, opened a soup kitchen in Dana Point. But in his hurry to get the kitchen into operation, he didn’t obtain the proper city permits.

The City Council last week shut the operation down. While the city should not have bent its rules, it should work now with Ely-Chaitlin to find another location for this valuable service.

Dana Point is not a place that one would think would need a soup kitchen. Its per-capita income in 1990 was estimated at $22,681, nearly double that of Santa Ana, and it is known for its scenic marina and exclusive neighborhoods.

But as social service agencies know, there are many people living in poverty in Dana Point. Some are illegal aliens who ride boxcars from San Diego and jump the train when it slows around a curve at San Juan Creek. A few survive in the bushes for a time before they find other shelter.

Ely-Chaitlin, once homeless himself, was a volunteer for the Anchor House in San Clemente, which suspended its food service for about 40 people a few months ago when donations declined. After encountering bureaucratic obstacles in setting up a soup kitchen in other South County cities, the foundation finally leased an apartment building in Dana Point’s Lantern District, where it has been renting out most units and using one for a food center.

City inspectors told Ely-Chaitlin that he needed health or other permits to keep in operation, and the City Council subsequently voted to shut down the soup kitchen. Ely-Chaitlin should have gone through the steps necessary to meet the city’s regulations the first time around. He says now he wants to “be a good neighbor,” and that means working with the appropriate agencies to meet regulations.

But the city should also remember that Ely-Chaitlin is trying to meet a need that the city and other agencies have failed to fill. He deserves more than credit for that. He deserves municipal help in finding another location to provide this vital service.

City Councilwoman Karen Lloreda said she would like to know what the City Council can do to address the problems Ely-Chaitlin has pointed to by opening the soup kitchen in this affluent city. At the very least, he has city officials talking about the needs of Dana Point’s underground population of poor people.