This video chronicles the sudden demise of one of the last walk up service facilities and hot meals kitchen and pantrys left in Orange County serving the hungry and the homeless, at the hands of a darkly motivated Orange city council determined to evict Mary’s Kitchen, while blaming the victim, in advance of the real deal, to accommodate a massive trucking depot seeking to develop the property right next door to the kitchen. It’s a classic and yet another case of local government overreach and hubris at the expense of the unhoused of Orange County. It is also a story of the tenacious and beloved matriarch of Mary’s Kitchen, Gloria Suess, and her refusal to go down for the count. Fighting all the way, Gloria and her intrepid staff of volunteers have risen from the ashes of the city’s vicious attacks on the kitchen and ultimate eviction from Orange, to reinvent and rededicate itself to serving the hungry and homeless of OC.
The Fall and Rise of Mary’s Kitchen
10 months ago
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About the author
John Underwood
John Underwood is an award-winning community television producer and lifetime professional journalist. His experience includes 13 years working for National Public Radio as a reporter in LA. He was employed locally for several years as a contributing reporter for OC Weekly and the Orange County Register. When John is not busy documenting the homeless persons' struggle throughout Orange County, he works as a Production Coordinator for Los Alamitos Community Television, where he produces a talk show named Backstory - an investigative program that tackles the contentious issues of the day. His current documentary series NO FIXED ABODE focuses on channeling the voices of the OC homeless.