Giving Hand Up Instead of Handout People Urged To Donate To Agencies, Not Panhandlers
Originally published in: The Herald-Sun
Monday, June 18, 2007
Edition: Final
Page: A1
BY BRIANNE DOPART bdopart@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
Time was, Durham's Inter Neighborhood Council backed a citywide ban on panhandling.
Now the group that represents dozens of the city's neighborhood organizations hopes to launch an education campaign encouraging Durham citizens to use their spare change a better way.
The "Durham Can You Spare A Change" campaign aims to alter the thinking of people inclined to pass dollar bills to panhandlers through their car windows or hand them money as they pass on the street.
The goal is to encourage people to give instead to local agencies working to help needy people, said Ken Gasch, INC's president-elect.
And the effort has the support of two Durham experts on homelessness and poverty.
Gasch said INC members have met with Lloyd Schmeidler of Urban Ministries and the Rev. Ernie Mills of the Durham Rescue Mission in hopes of learning more about helping economically struggling people living in the community.
Mills has devoted his life and ministry to helping homeless or addicted people restore their lives using Christian principles.
He said he doesn't give to panhandlers, saying former panhandlers he's counseled have told him they used between 85 and 95 percent of the donations to feed their addictions.
Even if the money goes for food and other necessities, Mills said, passing a dollar bill out a car window is simply putting a Band-Aid over the real problem.
By giving panhandlers money, people are enabling them to spend another day in a unhealthy situation and, in some ways, discouraging them from getting the assistance they need.
Like Mills, Schmeidler agreed with the idea behind INC's proposed effort.
"I've given money to panhandlers," said Schmeidler, saying he was aware of the risk that "the panhandler won't use the money for the purpose it was requested."
While he agrees with the sentiment behind the INC's change in policy, Schmeidler hopes Durham citizens won't simply avert their eyes or roll up their windows when they come across someone asking for a handout.
"I would discourage giving panhandlers money, but I would also encourage [motorists] to acknowledge the panhandler. Say, 'Hi, how are you doing?' or something," he said. "And then, when the panhandler responds and asks for a dollar or something, I would encourage [motorists] to respond, 'No, I choose to give my money to an organization that helps people in your situation.' "
If you're not on a highway and it's safe, Schmeidler said, engage the person asking you for money in a conversation. Many folks would be surprised to find out they may have things in common with the panhandler, and some might come to see the panhandler as an individual, not just someone asking for money, he said.
Such conversations could be "an opportunity for people to learn more about why there is poverty and such extreme poverty," Schmeidler said.
"The causes of poverty are complex and we like as a society to blame the panhandler for their situation when really there's enough blame to go around."
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