Ron,
I agree that merely providing food to the homeless in and of itself does not help very much. (Of course I'm not sure having a prayer program helps much either, other than to draw people into religion at a time when they are down and out and more vulnerable to such appeals.) The question here is not what method is effective at getting the homeless on their feet however, but whether government can control who gets to help them and how.
If there were fewer restrictions on helping the homeless, it would tend to encourage more individuals and groups to get involved, presumably with a variety of different approaches, some of which would work better than what's being done now. That would be the concrete policy goal of an initiative on feeding the homeless.
To briefly address another topic you and Marcy touched on below, I'm not sure what helpful point is made by saying things like, "why would a homeowner want a massage parlor next door when it would lower their property value. Property owners fight for their rights!" Replace the words "massage parlor" with "black family" and I trust you'll be able to see the problem with framing the issue in such terms.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>