NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A food pantry in Newport News says a large piece of their land has been littered with trash left behind by homeless people. Now, they've been cited by the city because of it.
Brother Tim Luken is the abbot of Livingstone Monastery. With the help of many dedicated volunteers, he runs Five Loaves, an emergency food pantry that serves 1,800 families in Newport News.
Luken told News 3 he's spent his life feeding the hungry and helping those in need. However, he said he's going to be subpoenaed soon due to the same people he's served for years.
Down the road from the food pantry is a large plot of land that was donated to him in 2015. Luken says the original plan was to build a monastery and a new location for Five Loaves, but it's been taking awhile to break ground.
"The city code does not allow for a monastery in its code," explained Luken.
Recently, the land has been occupied by others.
"Homeless people have moved in because nobody is monitoring the land," said Luken. "We, as a food pantry, can't always go there; I had strokes so I can't walk on the land as much as I would like to unassisted."
A couple of months ago, Brother Tim received a letter from the city. It was a citation for litter on the land — a mess he said he had to clean up, even though he didn't make it.
After many efforts of asking homeless people on the land to leave, Brother Tim said Newport News Police had to get involved. Once people were removed from the property, a five-hour cleanup process commenced.
"We had 42 volunteers and had to spend over $2,500 to clean up that property that we could have used to feed the hungry," said Luken. "We could have used that money to feed the very people creating the mess."
According to Luken, the site was catastrophic. Couches were dragged onto the land, as well as chairs and other furniture.
"[Homeless people] were even using electricity from the church, running a television when we got back there," said Luken.
On Sunday, Brother Tim returned to the site that homeless people previously camped on. He said, unfortunately, the recent cleanup efforts didn't last very long, and he found litter everywhere.
Luken said police told him this week that some of the homeless people who had refused to leave will be appearing in court. He is now waiting for a notification that will inform him of when he needs to go in front of a judge.
Brother Tim said he is asking the city to change its mind and alter the code to allow a monastery and food pantry, which would not only give Five Loaves Food Pantry a more permanent home, but also stop homeless people from populating the area.
Click here for a list of shelters and other resources for those experiencing homelessness in Newport News.
