Mary’s Kitchen struggles to relocate before May 1 eviction deadline
After a federal judge gave Mary’s Kitchen until the start of May to find a new location, CEO Gloria Suess describes the difficulty in finding a suitable new location for the food kitchen. DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor
In November 2021, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter gave Mary’s Kitchen — an organization that prepares meals for the local unhoused population — six months to find a new location. Now, the deadline is only weeks away: May 1.
The kitchen, which has been operating in Orange since 1984, was forced to relocate when city officials terminated the licensing agreement in July 2021. The nonprofit’s original agreement would have allowed them to stay in the city until 2024, but the city council decided to expedite the eviction process after voicing concerns of increasing violence and crime from the kitchen’s guests.
Mary’s Kitchen was originally required to evacuate the premises in September 2021 but received more time after arguing that it was necessary to effectively find a new location. Six months later, the organization hasn’t made much progress.
Gloria Suess, CEO of Mary’s Kitchen, said that although the group has been actively searching for a new location, the process has proven difficult. Every day that passes, relocation seems less likely to pan out.
“We’re still searching madly, and we still don't want to move until we have a place to go to,” Suess told The Panther. “We’re still pleading with the city to let us fulfill the contract until 2024 … We’ll have to have more time. I don’t see how we can (move) by May 1.”
The kitchen has been operating out of a property on Struck Avenue since the 1990s. At this point, if the kitchen doesn’t find a new location by May 1, they will face eviction.
Representatives from Mary’s Kitchen have been attempting to convince city officials to let the kitchen remain until 2024 for the organization to have ample time to find a new location. Although they were given six months to find a new property to operate from, Suess said it still isn’t enough time.
“There’s nothing to buy. I think that we, as a board and as a kitchen, did not anticipate how difficult it would be to find another place … If we had another place to go to, we would move right away.”
Suess said she’s even been considering offering less amenities — like eliminating the organization's clothing and shower operations — in order to ease the transition to a new location. Although Suess had been putting effort into keeping the kitchen in Orange, she said she is considering properties in other cities such as Santa Ana and Anaheim, desperately searching for a viable option.
“In the meantime, we’re asking everyone to put pressure on the city to give us more time,” Suess said. “I've looked at a lot of properties, but the problem is, they need to be in the right zoning … We’re meeting all the time to see who’s got a better idea about what to do. That’s where we are at. We know the clock is ticking.”
Suess pointed to Orange’s lack of a homeless shelter for nonfamilies as a reason for the kitchen to remain in the city. She said the only shelter in the city is specifically for families, leaving other unhoused people with few options.
“We do not want to close down,” Suess said. “We are a very vital asset to the unhoused neighborhood … We’re not giving up hope. We’re not saying, ‘We’re going to close.’ That never entered our heads. We’re just going to keep fighting to stay here as long as we can.”
This is a developing story. Follow The Panther on social media and at www.thepanthernewspaper.org for updates.