Time to Help, Not Hinder, Samaritans : * Santa Ana Zoning Code Puts Church in Tough Position in Trying to Shelter Homeless

Churches play a special role in caring for the poor in Orange County by helping to feed, counsel and shelter those who have used their last reserves. Cities ought to be grateful for their help, especially in recessionary times when strained public programs are trying to serve more people with fewer resources.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case in Santa Ana, where many of Orange County’s poor and homeless congregate. The city, in homeless “sweeps” and other enforcement actions, has made it abundantly clear that it would like to rid itself of the poor. It recently sent that message once again when the city planning department notified the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in downtown Santa Ana that the area’s zoning didn’t allow use of the church as a backup shelter to a local armory during bad weather.

The church has consulted its lawyer and decided that it will keep its word to provide shelter, if needed, on Jan. 29 and March 5. On those days, the armory will be in use for training programs and will be unavailable as a shelter in the event of inclement weather.

It may be that opening the church a few nights a year to the homeless doesn’t conform precisely to the area’s “professional” zoning. However, it’s also clear that the city isn’t responding so much to zoning regulations as to neighborhood concerns that programs that cater to the poor act as a magnet for the homeless.

The Rev. Brad Karelius of the Church of the Messiah said the zoning incident had galvanized downtown clergy, who see serving the poor as an important part their churches’ ministries. Church leaders plan to explore how they can work with the city and neighborhood groups to better fulfill that mission.

That’s good. But a new attitude is also needed by the city toward churches that provide a meal or emergency shelter for those at the bottom rung. Instead of being harassed, these churches should be helped in every way possible.