Criminalizing charity: How an Ohio nonprofit faces fines and arrest for feeding the homeless without a permit

Holiday season is upon us once again, which means it’s the time of year when the world is collectively attuned to the importance of family, gratitude, and generosity to those in need. While the holiday spirit lasts only a couple of months, for the Ohio-based nonprofit organization Nourish our Neighbors (NON), helping the less fortunate is a year-round commitment.

Based out of Dayton, NON strives to “alleviate hardships associated with homelessness and poverty by providing free services and resources to Dayton’s most vulnerable communities.” Yet, despite the growing need for these essential services, a preposterous City ordinance is threatening local charities with fines and even jailtime for feeding the homeless without a City-sanctioned permit.

Nourish our Neighbors had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing this ordinance enforced firsthand.

Nourishing their neighbors

Over the past six years, the homeless population of Dayton has steadily grown, making the need for resources more important than ever. Driven by a passion to help those in need, McKahla Moran started Nourish our Neighbors in 2022. A self-described “community organizer,” McKahla is a hands-on activist who loves working on the ground with the people she serves. The NON crew—which has three official employees and 30-35 volunteers—spends their time out among the homeless community, meeting people where they are. NON serves the less fortunate by offering necessities many of us take for granted, like socks and hygiene supplies, as well as providing meals. “If you need a meal, we’re going to give a meal. You need socks, we’ve got socks. Basically, just meeting people’s basic necessities so that they don’t worry about those things on a daily basis,” McKahla says.

McKahla finds her work extremely rewarding, especially when she sees the positive impact it has on a person. “The thing I love most,” she says, “is watching people’s tangible needs get met and seeing how different they are once they have those tangible needs met.”

It’s stories like these that remind us of the goodness of the human spirit. No matter how much we may want to give back to our communities, many of us get caught up in the chaotic hustle and bustle of our own lives—justifiably so—and miss out on opportunities to give. But McKahla has made it her life’s mission to dedicate her time and efforts to helping those in need full time.

NON’s work exemplifies the ideal role local charities should play in their communities. We should be taking care of our own, instead of relying on governments to do it all for us. Not only are local groups and volunteers more attuned to the specific needs of their community, but also, governments have limited funds. This is why it’s so important for local governments to clear the way and empower organizations like NON. But in Dayton, an absurd City ordinance criminalizes feeding the homeless in certain areas without a permit.

License to feed

One April morning, McKahla got out of bed at 5 a.m. to start cooking 200 breakfast burritos. She and some volunteers had been up until 2 in the morning prepping the food to make things easier the next day. When all the cooking was done, they packed up everything and headed down to the square, where the local homeless population knows to expect them.

Food service had barely begun when McKahla heard a voice on her walkie-talkie. One of her team members informed her that the police were demanding they shut down the food service immediately. McKahla had heard of this happening to other groups but was hoping to avoid a similar situation. There was a loose plan in case such a situation arose. A few volunteers were prepared to serve as police liaisons, ready to deescalate a situation if things got heated. While the liaisons chatted with officers, they’d buy NON some time to continue feeding as many people as possible before they were given the final order to shut down.

Highlighting just how absurd the ordinance is, McKahla remembers: “The police started telling them to go to Cooper Park, which is just down the street. Well, to me it’s like, why does the rule change just down street? No, I’m staying here.” The ordinance itself is vague. As written, it applies to “central areas of the city.” Were they asked to move to the park down the road because it is not considered central? Or were the police just being arbitrary in enforcement?

Moving down the street might not seem like a big deal to law enforcement, but it was a big deal for NON. The people they serve know to look for them in this particular spot. McKahla didn’t want someone to come looking for a meal and miss out because NON wasn’t where they were supposed to be.

One volunteer was incensed by the situation. He could not in good conscience turn away a hungry person because of a ridiculous City ordinance. While the conversation between officers and liaisons continued, the volunteer covertly handed out another burrito to someone in line. One of the officers noticed and ran toward the volunteer. shouting at him to stop. The officer proceeded to place the volunteer under arrest.

McKahla was panic-stricken as she watched. She couldn’t believe this was happening. If anyone was going to get arrested that day, she would have preferred it to be her.

During the kerfuffle, the arresting officer said that the volunteer would be spending at least one night in jail and would be fined $500. Eventually, the officer let the volunteer go without a fine.

There are surely those who will hear this story and think, Why didn’t they just follow the ordinance and get a permit like they were supposed to? Well, it’s not that simple.

For starters, the permit requires a $50 fee per event and a $250 security deposit for organizations with prior violations. Nourish our Neighbors exists because of the generosity of donors. Every dollar that goes into a permit is money that cannot be spent caring for the homeless. But there is also a broader problem with this ordinance. Governments do not hold a monopoly on charity, even if they would like to think so.

After all was said and done, NON was forced to toss 170 perfectly good breakfast burritos in the trash that day—and hungry people did not get fed.

McKahla wasn’t going to let this setback stop her from fulfilling her commitment to her community. When asked if the incident forced NON to pause future food services, she says, “No, we got better.” NON created a plan, should they have another run-in with the law, including a bail fund, which was created out of McKahla’s own personal savings account. Nourish our Neighbors has also had to get smarter, sometimes utilizing loopholes to avoid fines.

The ordinance applies only to handing out food … it doesn’t technically say anything about laying out all the food and then allowing a free-for-all. And even if NON does run into trouble again, it would all be worth it to McKahla because she understands that the ordinance is not just wrong; it’s illegal.

“This is unconstitutional,” McKahla says. “I fully believe it and I am willing to risk any penalty that comes with this.”

The loopholes are a short-term fix. McKahla realizes that they will have to figure out a long-term strategy.

Above all, she wants to get rid of this ordinance that accomplished nothing except penalizing generosity. Shortly after the April incident, she was contacted by a group called You Are The Power, run by libertarian entrepreneur and activist Spike Cohen. They’d read about the story and wanted to know if McKahla needed help. McKahla told them, “Well, we have everything we need, but we would love to get rid of the City ordinance. We’ve been to City Commission for the last three months and literally nothing has happened.”

You Are the Power then told McKahla about Pacific Legal Foundation and our work helping clients challenge unconstitutional laws.

Make no mistake, Dayton’s ordinance is unconstitutional. Courts have ruled that food sharing is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The ordinance also unfairly targets certain activities while allowing other similar ones, and violates the fundamental right to engage in charitable acts. It is completely silly that someone would be well within the law to hand out cake and ice cream for a birthday party in that same location, without a permit. Yet, a non-profit group must jump through hoops and bear extra financial burdens just to feed the homeless. Governments should be supporting private charities, not criminalizing their work. Every individual has the right to pursue their calling without governments creating unnecessary barriers. Governments exist to serve their communities, and especially the people who need it most.

For McKahla, winning this case would restore her belief that justice withing the legal system is possible. Pacific Legal Foundation will be standing by her side to fight for her right to serve her community.