Editor, Daily Nexus,

I commend the people working to bring breakfast to the homeless in Isla Vista (Daily Nexus, “Breakfast Club Seeks Kitchen to Call Home,” Feb. 10). It is a beautiful thing to feed people who otherwise would be dumpster-diving or simply going without in the morning. It is also a beautiful thing to build community by bringing different people together when everything else seems to be bringing us apart.

While most people seem to support the Breakfast Club, I learned after the last IVRPD meeting that the system we live and operate under does everything possible to reject these efforts. The idea to serve people food is basic. The food is prepared off-site, packaged up and delivered to I.V. by a group of volunteers who then share the food with the homeless community.

As simple as this sounds, our system complicates things to a point that feeding people is no longer possible in a public space. Not only is a sink and microwave necessary for health concerns (ironic they’re concerned about health when people are hungry and dying on the street each year) the program would need a conditional use permit from the county because Anisq’ Oyo’ Park is not zoned for feeding people. This could take 3-12 months to acquire and cost up to $10,000 (as outlined in the IVRPD staff report). The program would also need insurance to cover liability.

This is our system. And most people accept this as simply the way things are. This is one example why the system needs to be broken down and revolutionized in order to meet people’s needs.

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