Members of a charity group threatened with arrest while trying to feed homeless people at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point have filed a federal lawsuit against state parks officials, claiming interference with their constitutional rights.
The faith-based organization Welcome INN provided meals in the park's picnic area on two consecutive evenings in February without incident, according to the legal complaint filed this week by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union.
On the third night, a park ranger blocked volunteers from unloading food from their cars, telling the group it was engaging in "unlawful assembly," and threatening citation and arrest, the complaint states.
"We're all incredibly disappointed," said Jim Seiler, president of Welcome INN, which stands for Interfaith Needs Network. "All we're trying to do is . . . fulfill our religious obligation and take care of the people."
The suit seeks to overturn what the ACLU terms an "unconstitutionally broad" state law that regulates assembling in state parks.
The group has been offering hot meals, plus social services help and Bibles, to about 50 homeless or low-income people -- many of them regular visitors -- in the Capistrano Beach area of south Orange County for nearly two decades.
State parks officials say they sympathize with the plight of the homeless, but "it's not appropriate for a state park system that's designed for vacation and recreation . . . to be an answer to a social services problem," spokesman Roy Stearns said Thursday. "There are other agencies set up that are better prepared to deal with this and better intended than a park system."
Some three dozen adults and a few children gathered late Thursday afternoon across from a school bus yard in Capistrano Beach, where they said the Lord's Prayer in Spanish and English with Welcome INN volunteers and lined up for meatloaf, noodles and soda.
"They just totally got our family through last year," said Vickie Reed, gathered with her five children to pick up fruit punch, boxed suppers and plastic containers of chocolate "molten lava" cake. Reed's husband lost his job last year, and the family has struggled to make ends meet since then.
"They're out here every day at 4:30 and it makes all the difference . . . between eating and not eating," she said.
The all-volunteer nonprofit group used to operate out of local churches, but families in the congregations grew concerned about the homeless individuals' scruffy appearance, Seiler said.
