Posted on 08/26/2005 7:09:01 AM PDT by Millee
I give money to panhandlers. It's not part of my daily routine, but every now and then, a homeless person will be in my line of sight when I'm feeling generous, and I'll hand him or her a couple of bucks.
I don't have any expectations about how the recipient will spend the money. Maybe he'll buy food. Maybe he's saving for a bus trip to another city. Maybe he'll use the money to pay for lodging. Or maybe he'll just buy booze. It doesn't matter to me. I give him money because I can see he needs it.
Last week, a study commissioned by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the city's Office of Economic Development revealed that 44 percent of Denver residents are like me. Our occasional giving adds up to about $25 a year for each of us, which totals about $4.6 million a year to panhandlers.
Denver business leaders and city officials want us to stop. They say, with a straight face, that they care about panhandlers and that our impromptu donations only perpetuate the problems that beggars face. They say panhandlers need tough love if they're going to rise out of poverty. They point to the city's proposed $122 million, 10-year proposal to end homelessness, and suggest redirecting our $4.6 million a year in donations could significantly help fund this program.
With all due respect, I doubt that this study was motivated by humanitarian ideals. Business bureaus and economic development offices typically don't spend time trying to cure the complex problems of poverty, homelessness and panhandling. The objective was to figure out how to keep unattractive, malodorous, poor beggars from driving away tourists and other customers.
And I imagine their concerns are well-founded. There are many people who get nervous and/or scared when they see panhandlers, and they might avoid a shop that had a lot of beggars out front. But I'm not going to stop making my occasional donations to people on street corners.
Panhandlers play an important role in our society, because they are the visible face of poverty. The study in question focused on Denver residents, but a large percentage of middle- and upper-income families Click Here!
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Link To Article Print Article Email Article Article Last Updated: 08/25/2005 10:31:47 PM
reggie rivers Don't stop giving change to beggars By Reggie Rivers
I give money to panhandlers. It's not part of my daily routine, but every now and then, a homeless person will be in my line of sight when I'm feeling generous, and I'll hand him or her a couple of bucks.
I don't have any expectations about how the recipient will spend the money. Maybe he'll buy food. Maybe he's saving for a bus trip to another city. Maybe he'll use the money to pay for lodging. Or maybe he'll just buy booze. It doesn't matter to me. I give him money because I can see he needs it.
Last week, a study commissioned by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the city's Office of Economic Development revealed that 44 percent of Denver residents are like me. Our occasional giving adds up to about $25 a year for each of us, which totals about $4.6 million a year to panhandlers.
Denver business leaders and city officials want us to stop. They say, with a straight face, that they care about panhandlers and that our impromptu donations only perpetuate the problems that beggars face. They say panhandlers need tough love if they're going to rise out of poverty. They point to the city's proposed $122 million, 10-year proposal to end homelessness, and suggest redirecting our $4.6 million a year in donations could significantly help fund this program.
With all due respect, I doubt that this study was motivated by humanitarian ideals. Business bureaus and economic development offices typically don't spend time trying to cure the complex problems of poverty, homelessness and panhandling. The objective was to figure out how to keep unattractive, malodorous, poor beggars from driving away tourists and other customers.
And I imagine their concerns are well-founded. There are many people who get nervous and/or scared when they see panhandlers, and they might avoid a shop that had a lot of beggars out front. But I'm not going to stop making my occasional donations to people on street corners.
Panhandlers play an important role in our society, because they are the visible face of poverty. The study in question focused on Denver residents, but a large percentage of middle- and upper-income families
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in the metro area live in suburban enclaves that are completely devoid of poverty. The tight restrictions of homeowner associations ensure that blight doesn't exist, and the cost of mortgages, HOA dues, assessments and mandatory repairs make it virtually impossible to maintain a home in these neighborhoods without a substantial income.
So if you live in a poverty-free area, drive on highways crowded with your peers, work in an office building full of successful people, and never see anyone on the low end of the economy, it would be easy to forget that poor people exist and that homelessness is a significant issue in Denver.
The suggestion that our $4.6 million in donations would be better spent on other programs is true, but irrelevant. I donate money to many charities, but these impromptu donations wouldn't exist if not for panhandlers. Beggars provoke impulsive contributions in the same way that tabloids near checkout counters provoke impulse buys.
Rather than asking us to boycott panhandlers, business and city leaders should think seriously about what they can do to reduce the social problems that contribute to panhandling. I don't know how much money they spent on this survey, but if their goal was to help the poor, the money could have been better spent by donating it to a program.
If you give money to panhandlers, don't stop. They're not getting rich off your donations, but they are serving a purpose. We shouldn't push the poor out of sight; we should push them out of poverty.
The liberal idea of compassion is to give an addict more drugs.
this explains feel-good liberalism at its worst.
What is this crap?? I see the same people begging day after day, year after year. If they'd save 10% of their "earnings" they could buy a suit and get a job in no time.
The paper, as a public service..should print this guy's home address. Tis was all the "panhandlers who are the face of poverty" can go there and piss in front of his house.
Here's an idea...just let 'em live in your home. That way they won't bug ya about anything, they'll just take it. And you get to feel a warm feeling in your chest knowing how you've saved people. Then you can write an article about "how enlightened" you are and so everyone will think you're "special".
Giving money to panhandlers to be nice to them is like feeding cats to be nice to them. Pretty soon you are up to your neck in cats.
most of the beggers are professionals....they do quite well...the others are drunks or druggies....and I have no simpathy for either of them....they stink, they scare, they don't pay taxes, they litter, a waste of skin I say...let em freeze......the author is a liberal and wants the "problem"..it helps her Feel....."if I could only help one person....."
Very complex simple-mindedness, isn't it?
I suppose this guy should keep his job so we'll remember to fight idiocy.
The author is a moron. A police friend of mine told me that a good chunk of the homeless are usually running from something-outstanding warrants!
Daddy-o? How could you deny him?
Uhh....cotton. That IS their job.
Anyone who gives beggars ANY money is part of the problem.
If they didn't get hand-outs, they would not spend all day begging.
Stop giving them money -- it only encourages them!
I'm a little leary;
A group of us were in Cleveland last year and saw a few beggars. One had crutches and looked pretty downtrodden. When we walked by that area again, he was walking away from his spot with his crutches over his shoulder.
One of the guys that was with told a story about his uncle in LA that asked beggar to clean his apartment for $100.00. The beggar said no--he makes more money begging.
When they first reported this they said on average panhandlers made about $80 a day in Denver and one as much as $625 in a single day.
This guy is Reggie Rivers. That would be former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers. I'm sure he could easily fund some major homeless programs.
Incidentally, I was in Denver on leave last week and this story was all over the news. Denver has had a major homeless problem for years. Many homeless migrate to Denver because it has a reputation as a generous city. I lived smack in the middle of downtown for five years. I could regale everyone of the joys that hoards of panhandling winos bring to a thriving downtown community.
Anyone who supports this concept contributes to the demise of a productive society. This is liberalism at its' very worst.
"What is this crap?? I see the same people begging day after day, year after year. If they'd save 10% of their "earnings" they could buy a suit and get a job in no time."
Yea..there's a guy near where I live, stands right in the middle of an intersection with a pan asking for handouts everytime there's a red light and he's been at it for years. He's got to have about 50 people staring at him at any one time, I can't think of anything more degrading and yet he chooses this.
If I was a bum I'd collect cans or something until I could afford a decent outfit. Might be less profitable than begging rich people but at least it's respectable.
Therefore......
...homelessness is a significant issue in Denver.
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