City councilors invited to see growing numbers served by Breakfast Brigade

The Breakfast Brigade has been told to stop serving food to the hungry, even as their numbers have soared over the last three months. During public comments Sept. 9:

Rob Yost: Hello, I’m Rob Yost. I’m from Fairbanks, Alaska. I got stranded in Florence, and the cops there put me on a bus to Eugene. I’ve never been homeless in my life, and I’ve never been hungry in my life.

I’m a plumber by trade. I got stranded down here with no ID. Alaska couldn’t send me a new ID so I could fly home. So I’ve been on your streets and hanging out in your parks. For the first month I was here waiting for my ID, I ate two sandwiches a day at White Bird. I have two dogs by the way.

[00:00:45] So I found the Breakfast Brigade at Washington Jefferson Park. And so, for about two months, I’ve been cleaning the park every morning from 6 to 8 a.m. And I spend a lot of time in that park…

I’m going to be on a plane and home, but that park and the Breakfast Brigade fed me, you know, and I’m not a drug addict, not a dope fiend. I’m just a guy stranded. I finally got my ID. It took 80 days because it got sent back. You know, I can’t just go stay at a mission because I have dogs. My dogs are more important than anything else, you know.

[00:01:30] I love your town. I love the fact I can ride a bicycle anywhere. I was given a bicycle. I was given a cart. It’s a great town you guys have here. But I’d like to see you guys not take away the food.

[00:01:46] Iezak (Isaac) Bell: My name is Iezak Bell, and Breakfast Brigade is very important to us over there. A lot of things are uncertain in this world, but food is one thing I have become, you know, extremely grateful for, so please don’t take it away. Thank you.

[00:02:05] Rev. Wayne Martin: I’m Wayne Martin. I’m here to share some information and then I may try at the end to ask something from you.

[00:02:14] For 11 years, the Catholic Worker Breakfast has been served in the park, started by Brother Charlie Smith, a Franciscan oblate. I’ve been involved in that for 11 years as well as other things.

[00:02:31] We are feeding now a growing number of people the last two months, many of whom have been recently displaced. Three months ago we served a hot breakfast and offered sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and snacks for a noon meal. We averaged then about 70 on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 120 on Friday and Saturday.

[00:02:56] Those numbers now have grown to 120 on Wednesday and Thursday and 180 on Friday and Saturday. We serve until we run out of food. We had 230 this Saturday.

[00:03:11] Our volunteers—and there are 25 of them that work one of any four days a week—are eager to help in other ways as well. Appointments and rides to local clinics and doctors, rides to the Social Security (office) and advocating for them there, rides to probation appointments and more.

[00:03:34] Some of our guests are alcoholics. Some are not well mentally and physically. I’m asking you to approach Parks and Open Space Director Craig Carnagey and ask for two more weeks, because we’ve been notified that our work, our ministry there, has to stop.

[00:03:59] Could you at least to come and be with us on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday and see what we do? Please come in person and watch us.

[00:04:08] City of Eugene: Our next speaker is John Monroe.

[00:04:10] John Monroe: Hello, my name is John. I’m a resident of the Whiteaker and I wasn’t aware until coming here that the parks were attempting to shut down people being fed.

I know there are some folks in this city and even on this council who detest the long history of progressive and left-wing and various countercultural traditions here in Eugene, but I think that you’ll still find yourself in the minority of the town, considering most people I’ve met here are concerned with caring for one another, compassion, growing as a community, not trying to figure out how to optimize the cruelty that I’ve seen here since this summer.

[00:04:55] And as you all know, I’ve already been here in the past and witnessed what this city council can do in terms of neglecting its most needy citizens. But after watching the police push around its residents all summer in the middle of heat waves, to now find out that your Parks and Rec are trying to actually participate in starving our most needy, I mean, like, can you just put up the banner of just saying you don’t care about human beings if you’re going to allow this kind of stuff? It’s absolutely disgusting.

[00:05:27] I mean, it makes sense. We’re the same country that has sold since October 14,000 two-ton bombs, several of which were just dropped on tents in a refugee camp in Gaza. Of course, you know, we’re very unhappy about it as a government, but nothing’s going to stop. We’re still going to keep selling bombs. Just like you all are going to keep financing the police, even as you gut the libraries, and even as you take away food. It’s so interesting how it’s all the same thing.

[00:05:54] When the most desperate people need help, the governments don’t care. But when it comes to making sure that those with the guns and the capacity to inflict pain and cruelty are well prepared, you really do do a good job of making sure that they’re well funded, that they are well prepared to torture and to violate the basic human rights of the people you’re elected to represent.

[00:06:18] It’s a staggering amount of cruelty in addition to completely incompetent management and responsibilities here and honestly, at this point I have very little hope.

[00:06:29] Councilor Emily Semple: Thank you to everybody who came to speak. It always means so much. And I appreciate the diversity of topics, having been an advocate, activist for the homeless and the hungry since before I came to Council. The Breakfast Brigade is a big concern of mine.

[00:06:49] However, I also have been using the new dog park at WJ. And so I see the large crowds of hungry people, but I’ve also seen fighting. I had to call 911 last week because somebody hit somebody else with a big post in the head.

So I wish there was somewhere else for us to feed the hungry people and parks seem like such a good gathering place, but the energy isn’t good and it’s scary and dangerous.

[00:07:20] So, I really hope we can find a good solution.

[00:07:25] John Q: Rev. Wayne Martin asks members of the City Council to join him, to see the growing numbers of the hungry being served by the Breakfast Brigade.