NOREEN: Spare change? Plug a meter
Some people like to give spare change to panhandlers because it makes the donor feel all warm inside.
Face-to-face charitable giving like that is so personal and satisfying, because the giver can see the smile and the gratitude. There’s immediate human gratification on both sides of the transaction.
Now comes Homeward Pikes Peak, a Colorado Springs agency with a plan to place 104 meters inside businesses so people can help the homeless that way instead of giving it directly to panhandlers.
“Wow,” critics may say, “talk about turning charity into a sterile, lifeless thing. How terrible, to take human-to-human warmth and transform it into something totally inanimate.”
Well, this is worth a try.
Stereotypes are dangerous, but the great majority of panhandling that goes on involves street people trying to score alcohol. Giving them cash is like offering a glass of water to a drowning man.
Every homeless advocate in the city will tell you that a homeless person never has to go hungry here and never has to panhandle for food.
Giving money to a panhandler might make you feel good, but most of the time when you do it, you’re not helping. You’re enabling.
The distinctively decorated parking meters that will be appearing around town (see my blog for pictures and to take part in a poll) are a way to divert money from panhandlers to a program that will help them to stop panhandling.
“I have no clue how this is going to go. I have hope,” said Bob Holmes, the director of Homeward Pikes Peak who is supervising the meter program. “Beyond that,” he said, “It’s up to the people of Colorado Springs.”
Homeless advocates know the best you can hope for are little victories on the street. Some of the people there are beyond our help.
“You do have failures,” Holmes said, “but you keep going and you always leave the door open.”
Within the general issue of homelessness, there are plenty of sub-issues to disagree about. One thing everyone agrees on is that now, there are more homeless people living in camps than ever before.
In addition to the chronically homeless who have mental health and substance problems, the recession has pushed many others onto the streets, creating a more diverse homeless population.
There are more youngsters out there and others who are new to the experience. Homeward Pikes Peak offers a hand up, but to take advantage, homeless people have to be sober. There are more of those people in the homeless population than usual — more opportunities for a little victory.
The meters are one low-cost way to help. They won’t put an end to panhandling. If you want to help a homeless beggar go get drunk, you can still do that.
But think about plugging a meter first.
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