Volunteers worry the homeless will go hungry after county installs barricades.

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Newly installed orange barricades along Sixth Avenue South west of Lake Worth Beach are sparking concerns from good Samaritans who say they’re being blocked from distributing food to homeless people in a tent encampment in John Prince Park.

Palm Beach County’s parks Director Eric Call said the barricades were erected along the south side of the road’s eastbound shoulder Wednesday to prevent people from "dumping off" unwanted household items at Tent City.

"Of course, most of the items were unusable by the homeless and the debris piled up, requiring maintenance personnel to make multiple trips to clean it up,’’ Call said in an email.

He said faith-based groups that have county permits can still access the park to feed the homeless at Tent City.

But Randy Lewis of the Lake Worth Burrito Project, an advocate for the homeless, said some faith-based groups have scaled back their feedings to avoid the risk of coronavirus to their volunteers, many of whom are elderly.

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As a result, Lewis and other advocates — many of whom don’t have a county permit —have tried to fill the void by pulling off the side of the road and handing food to homeless people over a short rustic fence.

Now, they can’t do that because of the barricades.

"It’s preventing anybody from getting food to those people. They’re basically starving them,’’ said Dave Siefert, a volunteer with The Burrito Project.

Of the 14 groups permitted by the county to feed the homeless in the park, only two have temporarily suspended service because of COVID-19, Call said. The county has filled those slots with other permitted groups, he said, "so there has been no loss in the level of service.’’

Lewis, however, said he has heard from Tent City residents who claim the food deliveries have been cut drastically in recent weeks.

"My people do not have permits. I have filed for permits multiple times and cannot get one. So we feed anyway,’’ he said. "We believe it’s what the Lord wants us to do, to reach out to people in need, to the homeless in that park.’’

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Siefert said he doesn’t dispute the possibility that unwanted household items are being dropped off at the park. But he said erecting physical barriers to block access to the side of the road creates safety hazards for people who are still determined to drop off food.

"There’s a pandemic going on,’’ said Seifert's wife, Marjorie. "These are human beings. There’s no place for them to eat even if they had money. There are good people who want to help and now this is cut off. It’s a problem.’’

Frankie Pierre-Paul, who distributes food and hygiene products almost every day, said the "barricades just makes it seem like those in power don't care.’’

Lewis said he thinks the barricades are part of a county strategy to "make life so miserable" for homeless people in the park that they will want to leave Tent City and move to a temporary shelter the county plans to open later this spring at the old stockade.

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County Mayor Dave Kerner disputed that. "There’s no conspiracy theory,’’ he said.

The county on Tuesday discussed a $2.5 million contract with Gulfstream Goodwill to manage the homeless populations at the stockade. They delayed voting on the contract until next week.

Kerner said he wasn’t aware of the barricades until he was told Wednesday by Pierre-Paul.

"If Eric Call and the park professionals thought it was necessary, I trust their judgment,’’ Kerner said. "But I'm not out to get these folks. I'm trying to help the situation. I'm not trying to make life hard.’’

jcapozzi@pbpost.com

@JCapozzipbpost