Priest faces $500,000 in fines for feeding homeless amid lawsuit
OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (WFOR) – A Florida priest has racked up more than $500,000 in fines for continuing to feed the homeless after the area around his church was rezoned more than a decade ago.
For 36 years, Father Bob Caudill has been feeding the homeless at All Saints Catholic Mission in Oakland Park. For the last 12 of those, he’s been locked in a standoff with the city, which alleges he’s operating a non-permitted soup kitchen.
“In 2014, they decided to rezone the Powerline area. They told me fallaciously that ‘you have to stop feeding; you’re not fitting into the new zoning,’” Caudill said.
Despite the rezoning, Caudill kept feeding the homeless, offering them showers and giving spiritual guidance. It turns out there’s a price to that.
“Long and short of the case is we are suing them to stop the harassment because it’s over $500,000. It’s $125 a day since 2014, and they put a lien on our building,” he said.
He already took the city to court in January, but Oakland Park’s attorney successfully got the case tossed because of a missed deadline.
Meanwhile, unhoused people like Jeremiah Williams depend on the help Caudill offers to give them a hand up. Williams has been coming to the church for the past few months as he works to get a license to drive a tractor-trailer.
“I come here to take showers. I come here to eat breakfast and lunch. I use my SNAP card to go purchase other items. I go to the park, exercise there, and I even come to mass here,” he said. “I don’t know any other church or any other pastor that will help us the way that he has.”
Caudill is vowing to continue the good work of feeding the hungry as he prepares to head back to court.
“So, Christ was very clear about us helping his people, and it doesn’t matter what stage of life or who you are. Everybody’s just a child of God, point blank, right?” he said.
The city of Oakland Park said it cannot comment because of pending litigation.
The All Saints Catholic Mission is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Miami.
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