The South Grand Community Improvement District distributed a letter to their businesses last week encouraging them to refrain from providing water, food or services to homeless individuals as temperatures return to the mid 90s.
Their letter cites issues with feces and the homeless sleeping in entryways and asks the businesses instead call 911 to connect them with services. For businesses that feel uncomfortable calling 911, it asks them to film the homeless and email them to the CID executive Director Rachel Witt.
On a second page, the letter is signed by Witt and the CID's Board of Directors.
The South Grand Community Improvement District sent a letter to their businesses, asking them to not give water or food to the homeless, drawing ire from those same businesses and non profits who distributed free bottled water in protest @kmoxnews https://t.co/rwqx6lO8fZ pic.twitter.com/MMPO219V6U
— Sean Malone (@SMalone27) September 16, 2026
In response, Theo Kayzer with the St. Louis Catholic Worker and Tent Mission decided to sidestep the CID and distribute water themselves.
"Anyone who steps outside this week will know how important water is," Kayzer tells KMOX, "it's like unconscionable that somebody who might be in what is literally a health situation, a life and death situation on these extreme heat days, would have the police called on them than receive help."
However, they found themselves harassed by someone who he says called the CID tore their sign.
"As soon as we showed up yesterday to hand out water we had somebody walking by really upset that we were out here and challenging the CID."
Kayser acknowledges although the letter is addressed to the businesses, they might not be cooperating.
"It's not clear to us how many of the businesses down here are on board."
I spoke to a couple of business owners in the community who are not going along with the CID's ask and felt disgusted and appalled by the letter.
Pushing back in a post of Facebook, MoKaBe's Coffeehouse said being kind to anyone and everyone is never wrong, adding the unhoused has never made them feel unsafe in their 3 decades of business, and calls using that as a justification "abhorrent." It goes on to say filming them to identify them is inhumane. It says they will continue to support the homeless by providing them food, water, a place to charge their phone and more and hopes other businesses will do the same.
The owner declined to comment further on her post, letting it speak for itself.
Some of the businesses KMOX spoke to acknowledged their fear is not currently with the unhoused but rather the fallout from this letter, fearing a boycott. Some businesses said they are begging people to not protest their shops and restaurants in light of an already tight economy, saying they were not consulted and had no part in crafting this letter.
Kayser says they aren't limiting their free water to just the homeless, offering it to anyone who needs it.
"You can't always tell who's homeless... trying to enforce some sort of policy like this is gonna automatically to lead to some sort of stereotyping and that of itself is wrong too."
James Verde lives in the area and admits he too was once addicted but has been clean for 34 years. He says he doesn't carry much on him to avoid being perceived as homeless.
"I'm not homeless now but I don't carry a big back pack because I don't want to be stereotyped."
Kayser hopes some good comes of this moment, like raised awareness for how much need there is.
"I would encourage business owners down here to put pressure on the city to start providing more of those services... calling the police isn't going to help people get housed, there just isn't resources for that right now."
KMOX stopped by the CID office but it was unoccupied and our call to Executive Director Witt went to voicemail.
Non profits and businesses are outraged by the letter
Non profits and businesses are outraged by the letter
