Panhandlers Beg the Question

I understand what you're saying about self-righteous to refuse money to a probable alcoholic because he or she might buy booze, but if they wanted the money to buy razor blades to cut their wrists? Facilitating alcoholism is facilitating suicide, isn't it?

It's difficult. I live on the lower east side and don't have much money myself. I hate being quietly begged for money all the time, at freeway exits, gas station exits, on State Street, on the walkway by the bagel shop-Trader Joe's in the morning, and I don't like not giving, but I have to draw the line. There are a pair of women always there; they seem to get more and more down, if that's possible. I think they sleep in the bushes; I wonder if any of these services help.

For those of us (who no doubt most of you consider to be fools) who believe in God and the eternal, I see this as our test to see how we behave toward those on the bottom financial rung of our society.

When I get asked for money and I'm anywhere near a store I simply ask "are you hungry?" and when the person says "yes", I say "what can I buy you" and then buy the food. The way I look at it, we'll all be dead soon enough so I would rather err on the side of generosity than let someone's body and spirit starve.

It doesn't require a belief in God to draw the same conclusion.

Irrespective of all the causes and cures, I am not walking by anyone looking for food in a trash can and not buying them a meal. God help us all.

I think I am lucky not to be that man or woman on the street and how it could be me...any minute. And If they are brave enough to be begging,then who am I to judge. If you can take a person into your heart for just a minute...say "hello"...acknowledge their presence on the planet.
I think when someone is brave enough to take someone into their lives...to feed them...or help them in whatever way. I think that person will find or at least be able to see that mercy when it comes back them.
"The quality of mercy is not strained."
If the best you can do is drop a dollar in the basket,cup or bucket...then that is good. If you can add a "hello" to that...it is better. If you can "take their order and serve them"...THAT is divine.
That is grace.
I once was lost...and now am found.
I know what it is to be seen...and heard...and felt....after being very lost. There are miracles...some times very small...but with great potential.
Just my $0.2

As a homeless person I am against any form of panhandling. I believe that it sends the wrong message to the community as a whole, and is an extremely poor representation of homelessness.

I know quite a few of these panhandlers and all I can say is that more than a few of them make a fairly decent wage. Panhandling is there job, it is easy money for little,if any effort.

Please, if you want to help, donate to one of the many great organizations listed above. They can use both money and volunteers. Do not give panhandlers cash, most instances in doing so you are enabling an addict or alcoholic.

Raymond, if you are a homeless person, then I am the Queen of Sheba. You talk like a poverty pimp, and probably work for or run one of those programs that net 6 figure incomes for their directors.

I don't often agree with Starshine, but I sure agree with her for the most part this time.

I don't agree with "donation boxes" or any other method for these already well-heeled programs (check their Form 990's...it's all public info and VERY enlightening) to make more money for themselves on the backs of the poor and homeless. That's just revolting, and those people should be ashamed of themselves.

A fatter paycheck for some program and those on its payroll is NOT going to solve homelessness; it never has yet and it never will going forward.

The uncomfortable truth is that as long as people can't afford housing, they will be homeless. When we tear down all the SRO buildings, cheap apartments and other modest housing stock to make way for "upscale" condos, hotels and office buildings, the people living in them have to go SOMEWHERE.

Telling them to get out of town or disappear from view, or to spend their lives being hassled, ear-tagged and herded into "programs" simply because they have committed the sin of being poor and homeless is just obscene.

These people LIVE HERE. Many WORK here. And they can't afford shelter in their own town.

Donation boxes to fatten the coffers of programs yet further is not the answer. Realistically affordable housing IS.

From three years of living in third world places (Haiti, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Nepal, etc) my take, right or wrong, is that they are not hungry, they are lazy. Shout at me all you want, but when you've seen true poverty, the truly starving, for years, it's really hard to feel empathy for fat "hungry" people who live in a country with endless opportunity to make money but instead put a sign or hat or hand out claiming they are starving. -AB

I grew up in an economically challenged environment (a euphemism for poor), largely a result of two parents with "issues," not the least of which had to do with substances. They separated when I was a teen, and I was left to mostly fend for myself. As bad as things were, I never believed that others were responsible for my own survival, no matter what curve ball life decided to throw my way. I worked wherever I could doing many different jobs, many which were not very pleasant. I lived wherever I could, always striving to pay my way. I was determined not to be a burden on those around me, whether they were family, friends, or strangers.

Many of those who are "homeless" are, in fact, not. Their home is the street and that is where they choose to live. In reality, it's not all that difficult to do what the majority of people do every day ... work. We always have choices. No one can ever take that away by shifting blame or giving a pass for the choices that some people make. What you see on the street is nothing more than one group of people who produce nothing, living with the expectation that another group of people, who by the way make responsible choices, will give some of what they have to facilitate their survival. In most cases it is a purposeful victimization of hard-working citizens by utilizing the bludgeon of guilt.

What I am trying to describe is a behavior. Panhandling is, in my opinion, an undesirable one. These people live here. Okay, so did I, but I left for much of my adult life because I couldn't afford it. I came back when I was able to pay my way. Living in S.B. isn't a right. People, just because they are living here, aren't owed anything by anyone. It is their choice to live here, just as it is for all of us.

Panhandling is bad because it doesn't produce a desirable outcome. Except to assuage the feelings of guilt promoted by the panhandlers to further their cause and increase the amount of something they get for nothing. Panhandling continues to be done because it's easy and profitable. Meaning that you get more out of it than you put in it.

The people who really care about homelessness "donate" their time or money to organizations like the Unity Shoppe, to name one, because it's known that they support managed caseloads, and that their clients are doing their part in trying to improve their own lot in life. That's called choosing to support something positive by promoting desirable choices. Many, if not all of these organizations, have the ability to discern whether or not someone on the street actually is in need, or if they are just making a choice that they are willing to live with.

Do you really want to end panhandling? The only way is to stop paying into the "business" of panhandling. I for one will continue to put my money on those who have solutions for the problems that ail the homeless, not perpetuate their existence.

Sometimes I feed stray cats, the more I feed the more they come around and become dependent on me for food, they breed and more and more cats arrive from different neighborhoods because they hear about my handouts. I like the cats, feel sorry for them.

SoCalJay,
Well said! -AB

'endless opportunity to make money' hmmm. If you are refering to our capitalist society, I say the crooked and criminal are hoarding all the money nowadays. Living here we don't see the unemployment as severe as the rest of our nation right now. Do you measure how rich your life is by how much money you make? How much free time you have? We all make choices. It is frustrating to play by the 'rules' and see the rich getting richer while the poor and middle class pay for it. At the same time, you can look to no other than Bob Marley for some perspective: "So Jah say, not one of my seeds shall sit on the sidewalk and beg bread." From another song: "In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty" - Rat Race

SoCalJay I agree with you to a point you say instead of giving to the homeless give to the organizations that help the homeless well I am still waiting to see an organization that helps the homeless. The problem with this town is that everybody is for self and trying to figure out a way to make it to the top of the latter and they will do whatever it takes to get there. I feel for the homeless I really do b/c I look at it like this we are all a paycheck away from being homeless, nobody chooses to be homeless it just happens. By adding those donations boxes non of that money is going to go towards the homeless it's going to go into the city's budget to build bs...........Instead of building all these expensive condos and new business parks why not take that money and build a new homeless shelter why not donate that money to a homeless shelter or organization to help the homeless so that they won't be out in front of your business panhandling..............I could have sworn we were in a recession! Another thing is yea a homeless person can go out and get a job like the rest of us but in all honest who is going to hire someone who comes in smelling and looking awful?? No one and who is going to hire someone if they don't have a place to live?? Or better yet a contact number so they can even call them back if they did decide to hire them?? I know it's easier said than done but you really need to put the shoe on the other foot before you judge!

The problem is what do you do for people that are having problems? Do you help or not? I became homeless 3 months ago and spent most of that time living out of my p/u truck on the streets of S.B. Never in that situation before, i came down from Portland bacause i knew it would be warm(er) and because i had passed through the town once before and found it just breathtakingly beautiful.
Never once was i hassled, but i came to recognise 'the look' that you get when people see you don't belong to anywhere. Did i feel shame? You bet. Did i get angry? Somewhat, some of the time. Did i feel bad for us all? Always, all of the time, because living human beings are all the same in needing food, water, shelter and companionship, and as a society we fail miserably at this. We have a system that does not allow for failure, though many of us fail due to defects we are born with. Most of the people i met on the street had some rather serious problems, schizophrenia being foremost. Many were ex soldiers. Me, i'm just a quiet guy who has lost his way, and i felt embarrassed taking services that so many need, though i am hurting myself, not in such a desperate way. Too bad we don't have voluntary euthanasia...i would be first in line. Tired of living down to expectations, and ashamed to call myself a human being, i'm 50 years old and expected more from my generation...not a free ride, but a way to fit in, cause that is all anyone really wants in the long run, to belong. Now? I'm back in Portland, selling my stuff out of storage and due in court to face jail time for not paying my (back) child support...though i do not get income, unemployment, or any other compensation, other than what i dug out of the ground with my metal detector, which i had to sell to get back up here... you gotta love this world! The problems of the weak and disenfranchised...will drag everyone down if not treated.

hey homelessguy, I truly feel for your situation and when you talk about euthanasia it makes for an even sadder story. It is true that sometimes we need someone to lean on during hard times, but ultimately we gotta dig deep and make a change inside ourselves. "that look" that you receive from others? Screw them. Don't take their stuff on. Look at the positive things you are capable of. You have no idea what will happen in the future, something I find exciting enough to live for. Look at it this way, you are lucky enough to access a computer in these times. It may not be such a priveledge to an American, but overall there are many people in the world who have never had that chance. Keep your head up.

Thank you Starshine! Here's a link to an Independent story about a book by a Westmont grad who became homeless to see what it would be like:

http://www.independent.com/news/2006/...

Perhaps a non-profit could be created, which takes in homeless persons--who are capable, and actually *want* to work. . . .

Once one is cut off from the benefits of having a permanent house/home (showers, contact phone, mailing address), then becoming non-homeless is very hard. However, "shelters" are open to those who are homeless for ANY reason, and I doubt there is a process in place to separate those who need a "hand up", apart from those who want a "hand out"--and I have no idea if there are any psychological screenings.

The point is, any homeless person who is willing_and_able to rejoin the regular rat race, should be helped. We just need to figure out who they are. Anyone from the other two categories could be aided in other ways.

Wow "Only in Santa Barbara!" is right. If you turn away food because it's not on your raw foods diet? then you've never known real hunger.
I worked at transition house as a volunteer (meaning I bought, prepared and served the food). I heard people complaining about the food (ahhh pizza/pasta/hamburgers again! ) and saw people scraping full plates of food into the trash. :-O ! Disgusting! I stopped volunteering there, the people obviously didn't need my help. Again these people have never known real hunger.
I've seen people turn their noses up at canned food at local church food banks. These is free food folks!
Yet again, more people who've never known real hunger.

If just a handful of the most rational, trustworthy, and drug-and-alcohol-free homeless people put their minds, hearts, and resources together, they could accomplish some amazing things...(maybe even make history, too).

Just a thought.