Priest pledges sanctuary for homeless

City renews effort to clear camp, citing health risks

Glauber said she is also worried that as current park residents move into apartments under the city's "housing first" program, others will arrive in hopes of finding similar accommodations. She said the number of apartments that the city has to offer at this time is limited.

"The park is not designed to accommodate many people," Glauber said. "I wish there were more [apartments available]. We are focusing our efforts on the most vulnerable right now."

Lawrence, the pastor at St. Vincent's, said he and his flock will work harder to organize food and clothing drop-offs at the park, which are so frequent that some food sits for days and attracts rats and insects. He also said that he has encouraged police to come into the park to arrest homeless people who are selling drugs or engaging in prostitution.

The pastor said church members don't want to be enablers, but as Christians they also can't turn their backs on those in need.

"I don't think living in the park causes cancer, but closing the park doesn't cure it either," he said.

"There is always a fine line edge between compassion and enabling, and you are always trying to walk that edge. Sometimes we lean one way and sometimes the other. The city has a bias; they want everything neat and pretty for the tourists and so they lean a different way. It doesn't mean we are evil people. We just have different temptations."

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