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Pizza shop owner takes on huge fines to continue letting homeless man live behind his store

"Either you kick him down the road until somebody complains—and then he gets kicked down the road again—or you deal with it."

pizzeria

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

Eric Weber refuses to evict a homeless man living just behind his pizza shop.

When Eric Weber, owner of The Slice in Evansville, Indiana, discovered that a man had been sleeping in a tent next to the dumpster behind his pizza restaurant, he had basically two choices: make him go or let him stay.

For Weber, the decision to let the man continue living behind his shop was an easy one. “I know it’s wrong just to kick a poor homeless guy down the street when you can provide care for him just as easily as anybody else can,” he told local CBS and Fox News affiliate 44News Evansville.

It’s not like Weber hasn’t attempted other solutions. He told the outlet that he had tried reaching out to other organizations to help for years, but always came upon dead ends. Knowing that forcing the man to leave would likely only cause more instability and worsen the situation, Weber felt like letting him stay was the only way to do the right thing.

"Either you kick him down the road until somebody complains—and then he gets kicked down the road again—or you deal with it," Weber said.

The city’s planning commission, however, seems to feel differently. According to the institution, the man’s tent represents a structure that violates a city ordinance for land use. The fine for this type of offense starts at $500 and exponentially increases each day afterward. In less than a week, the fine will surge to over $7,000 a day.

Weber, who has already been given the initial fine, is determined to continue helping the man and feels that the commission's values are misaligned.

“If you’re looking at the greater good in this situation—the aesthetics of the alley and taking care of a homeless person—which one makes more sense?” Weber said.

More than 580,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States on any given day in 2022, according to the 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report. The issue might be more prevalent in large cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, but states nationwide have seen a visible increase in homelessness within the last decade, particularly due to the rising cost of housing…what little housing is available, that is.

As the challenges facing homeless communities become more visible, cities are making better incremental efforts to help. Lawmakers in Oregon, for example, have proposed a bill that would decriminalize homeless camps and allow unhoused people to sue if they are forced to leave. Other towns are building "tiny home villages" to help clear out homeless encampments on the street.

Though Weber isn’t waiting around for help to do what he feels is right, he said that his own city has the means to provide better solutions for helping the man and others who are struggling. "If you give him food and water and a basic-shelter situation, it seems to me it could be done in an economical fashion that makes sense, and I definitely think the city could do it."

Hopefully, Weber will not have to pay the price for having compassion.

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How a warm bowl of Korean curry came to represent love and sacrifice

Food can mean so many things.

All images provided by Kat Chao

A photo of Kat and her mom, and a bowl of her mom's famous curry

True

Whether it’s the mac n’ cheese that reminds you of simpler times, or the exotic spiced chicken recipe you acquired from your travels, every meal tells a story.

This rings especially true for people whose families immigrate to different countries to start a new life. Immigrant parents often not only save every penny, but spend most of their time away working in order to build a future for their children. Each comfort meal they manage to provide their kids in the very few spare hours they have tells the story of love and sacrifice.

For Kat Chao, that meal was her mother’s Korean curry.

korean food A photo of baby Kat and her mom and dad

Growing up, Kat’s mom worked weekends to support her family. But that didn’t stop her from waking up Saturday morning to dice up some beef and fresh veggies and throw them into a large pot so that Kat’s dad could heat it up and serve it with some rice to her and her brothers later.

Curry was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to feed a full house, but it served more than just practical purposes. As Kat would wake up to the enticing aroma, she was reminded that her mom was always taking care of her, even if she couldn’t physically be there.

koran curry YUM

As Kat grew a little older, her attitude towards her mother’s curry shifted. Instead of looking forward to it, she would “roll her eyes at it,” as is customary of the rebellious teen. Those less-than-positive feelings were only exacerbated by the media constantly labeling carbs, therefore rice, as “bad.” As a kid who struggled with weight, her comfort food became a source of discomfort.

But as an adult, and now a mom herself, Kat has reached a full circle moment.

korean recipes, albertsons Kat, all grown up with her own familiy

As she makes her own kids the exact same curry dish (okay, maybe a leaner cut of beef, and organic veggies…but otherwise exactly the same!) Kat finds a whole new appreciation for the recipe, knowing how hard her mom worked to even make it happen.

Kat was lucky to have grown up with a meal to look forward to each night. Other kids aren’t so lucky. 1 in 8 kids currently experience food insecurity in the United States. But there’s an opportunity to decrease those numbers.

For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Is there a dish from your childhood that you’ve longed to rekindle with? You could do like Kat does and give it an O Organic twist. Luckily, the O Organics brand has a wide array of affordable ingredients, so creating healthy swaps is easier than ever. Plus, you can provide nourishment to another family at the same time.

Just think—the next meal you prepare could make all the difference to someone else. If every meal tells a story, that’s certainly a story worth telling.

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