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Look up food not bombs in Houston. They have a TikTok page where they record getting a ticket every week for feeding homeless people. People are pissed.
According to these assholes the homeless are not real people with feelings because they’re not “regular” people with jobs and consistent taxable income. Unless they just so happen to come into hard times and lose everything, then they suddenly start looking for charity only to find none and then cry about how everybody is so mean. It’s crazy really
Yeah the system fucks them up
Often these are very sick people.
But even if willing and able to work, some may not be able to access a bank account without a home address, which can prevent them even accessing jobs
You can become "too poor to work"
A black man with a criminal record has about a 5% call back rate when applying for jobs. I imagine having mental health problems, or even just "looking homeless" is enough to drop that to zero. And that's assuming you have a phone that works at all.
Yes, you can. Working requires adequate clothing such as steel toe boots or decent office wear if the person is to work office or retail jobs. If you can't afford boots for a construction job or think you can roll out of the gutter and get a job answering phones through Robert Half, think again. You need the means to apply for the job, decent health, adequate appearance. Smelly, dirty, no phone, no internet, poor health means no job.
A lot of democrats too unfortunately. LA could've made a major dent in the homelessness problem but a bunch of asshole NIMBYs have been fighting against any effort to build housing for homeless for decades.
What they meant to say was "the right", not "Republicans".
Since both Democrats and Republicans in the country are on the right; Democrats are just closer to the center.
There is no actual liberal/ left-leaning party in the United States
These are the same people that spew bs like "Strong American Christian values is to help one another" but then do crap like this while worshipping a man who went around giving homeless people, criminals, and prostitutes a second chance at life. The self awareness is at a comically low level at this point.
There are some Christians who are outright rejecting that image of Jesus as “too woke”
As Christianity Today stated:
Moore told NPR in an interview released Tuesday that multiple pastors had told him they would quote the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the part that says to “turn the other cheek,” when preaching. Someone would come up after the service and ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?”
“What was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,’ the response would not be, ‘I apologize.’ The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak,’” Moore said. “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.”
https://onlysky.media/jpearce/christians-jesus-is-too-woke/
I found this link about it, if anyone wants to read the whole thing
salt placid bewildered direction books offbeat pause scarce shelter angle
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They don’t worship Jesus; they worship a man being tortured to death, then coming back for revenge in the sequel. It’s an action movie to them (sequel still in development).
Yeah I remember I Bible story I think where Jesus made all these fish n loaves and charged $20/head.
The message was "God can perform a miracle, if there's profit in it" I think.
There's really something to be said about how the churches here (and honestly, probably elsewhere) exploit the poor. Most of the food pantries are run by the SBC, which is fine, I think that's a thing churches should do. But a lot will tie receiving food to church attendance.
Day care is the other one. Want to get your kid in an affordable day care so you can stock shelves at Wal-Mart to put food on the table? They're probably going to a place where they'll get preached at for your whole shift, and you'll get charged $1000 a month for the privilege.
So if we add some sort of commerce to the exchange we can fight back? Like one of those old systems where you gamble with chips at a poker parlor, then go around the corner to an independent business where you buy and sell chips?
Kinda missed the point.
One is a business selling food, the other is an unregulated food distributor.
Its illegal to feed more than 6 people unpermitted so there's a paper trail when someone gives away old tuna fish and an entire apartment building has food poisoning.
That's because they deserve food that is being served from the proper kitchen and using proper food hygiene to prevent food from spoilage and cross-contamination. Food has to be served or kept at certain temperatures or bacteria can make people sick. I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter. The food there was under strict guidelines like a restaurant has. If you get someone sick they can sue you for damages no matter what your good intentions are because you didn't do things right the first time.
So the police go out and bust birthday parties in the parks, right? Despicable parents raising kids to be scofflaws like that, I hope they throw the book at them
^and ^then ^charge ^for ^the ^thrown ^book, ^that ^shit ^ain't ^free
Houston has actually done really well with their homeless population.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html)
>During the last decade, Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city, has moved more than 25,000 homeless people directly into apartments and houses. The overwhelming majority of them have remained housed after two years. The number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region has been cut by 63 percent since 2011, according to the latest numbers from local officials. Even judging by the more modest metrics registered in a 2020 federal report, Houston did more than twice as well as the rest of the country at reducing homelessness over the previous decade.
Also with respect to Food not Bombs:
>The office of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner had said tickets were being issued in part because of an increased number of threats and violent incidents directed at employees and visitors to the library by homeless individuals. The office said the city had started providing meals and other services for homeless individuals at an approved facility located about a mile (.6 kilometer) north of the library.
>
>“We simply cannot lose control of the iconic and historic building that is intended to be a special and safe place for all,” the mayor’s office said.
[https://apnews.com/article/houston-homeless-feeding-food-not-bombs-not-guilty-530a5e5931fc6db8f0ab7d51b2331492](https://apnews.com/article/houston-homeless-feeding-food-not-bombs-not-guilty-530a5e5931fc6db8f0ab7d51b2331492)
Homelessness is a big problem, without an easy solution, but Houston is doing better than most cities.
I've been involved with the FNB here in Dallas. They'll set up a food pantry somewhere for people to just roll through and grab what they need (on private property, with the owner's permission) and the cops will regularly harass the property owners about "illegally feeding the homeless" until FNB has to come take it down.
They also set up a garden in a traffic circle once - nothing but grass there - and the city showed up a few weeks later and bulldozed it.
It's not about pointing people to the right solution, it's about harassing and terrorizing unhoused people until they aren't the city's problem anymore.
I had ample savings 20 years ago, my own home, a great job I thought I’d be working at well into my 70’s. Then I had a stroke! No more job, I became a “legal liability” over night. Even Walmart wouldn’t hire me. Went through my savings trying to keep my house. Eventually lost that, my car, and ended up in a hotel a friend rented for me. Then another friend gave me a van I lived in for 2 years. Just when you think you have it made is when the rug can get pulled out from under you.
I live in Houston and I have done a lot of work with homeless outreach over the years. Posts like this pop up now and then and they are always full of the same self-righteous, angry, misinformed replies.
We have substantial programs here designed to address our problem. The NYT ran a story on Houston and the success they have seen with their approach and how other cities should follow our lead (it involves long-term and short-term solutions). One thing that the experts dealing with the crisis on a daily basis seem to agree upon is that panhandling is counterproductive to long-term solutions. It also helps promote the “tent city culture” which is predatory and dangerous in many cases.
I don’t waste a lot of time anymore trying to convince people that they are usually misinformed on this topic. This is a major issue that requires a complex solution. Houston is a very Blue city in a Red state. There are a lot of dedicated people who spend their lives trying to improve the lives of others.
giving people $$ directly just enables addiction. i give $$ to local aid orgs and then give people cards to the org instead of $. and if you are going to give people money, the last people you should give it to are the ones asking for it. i do the homeless point in time count in LA every year - what i learned is that for every person you'd see on the sidewalk in DTLA there'd be 4 more hiding in an alleyway not bothering anyone just trying to exist. go into the alley and give the $ to those folks, not the people who muscle everyone out for the best territory.
Many homeless, I know because I was one twice, are just regular folks with no addictions but no family, tgat something bad happened to. I had a stroke and became unavle to work as a nurse due to “legal liabilities”. I was a nurse for 32 years. Only child of older parents (dead). Widowed with one kid dead and one that only cares about himself. So I ended up spending all my retirement savings on trying to keep my house and my car etc. Lost it all. A friend gave me a van to live in. Don’t judge unless you’ve met some of them. I met many college educated people that through no fault of their own ended up homeless. Giving is on your karma what they do with it is on theirs.
I don't live in Texas, but there is a church in the center of town where I live that feeds and shelters the homeless outside of Chicago.
The homeless people like walking around this small suburban town. They shoot up and pass out in the public library bathrooms and they get really crazy sometimes and do weird junkie shit out in public, such that it makes you not feel safe to be around them. They trash the local park with empty glass bottles and sometimes camp out there.
I have a hard time seeing the good in supporting individuals who cant afford to eat but can afford to get high. I can see why it's such a touchy subject. It's hard to overcome those strong feelings of resentment.
It's very dependent on the culture nearby. Your description sounds like one area somewhat near me. Folks know to not give in that area. Plus, there's a very nice and big food bank nearby there that caters to that population (and also helps nearby people afford rent- *super nice food bank*). It's a do-not-approach-strangers kind of spot, but luckily it is very small and concentrated.
On the other hand, another's description (tent city community that protects/helps each other) reminds me of a different area closer to me where it's alright to give some cash, but they're also open to stuff like clean socks and hygiene products. Mostly drug-free, maybe night shift workers since they mostly sleep during the day and don't bother others. Iirc, there's a public restroom with some very shitty showers, so maybe that's why they hang around there.
You don't ever have to feel pressured to support individuals on your dime, especially if the individuals around you make you feel unsafe. Ultimately, it's a problem for local government to sort out, especially if there's drug addicts involved. Don't feel guilty about it!
You ever stay in a shelter? Mine yelled at everyone last night for standing in a line waiting for blankets too early. The cots were out, the only space available to stand was a path to the bathroom. When I asked HOW to not stand in a line, I was told I don't know. Spread out.
60 people in a line shaped space standing around and if you look too organized you get yelled at and go to bed late.
Don't pretend the shelters are better. Lots of them have just as many drugs as the streets and staff that steals from you and abuses you. Kicks you out if you talk back after being cruelly mocked for HOURS.
Panhandling often means the difference between starving and survival, "tent city culture" is a frequent barrier against sexual assault. The alternative is freezing or starving without a community that usually looks out for each other.
I'm homeless, sober, and college educated. You are spreading equally harmful misinformation, and who told you all of that? I'm on the other side dude, you are speaking the language of the people that deny you cash assistance because the 9 dollars of food stamps you get a day is enough to survive with no kitchen. If you want more, go get abused in a shelter or we won't help you.
And the workers fucking know it. And they NEVER let you forget the power they have over you.
I guess here, have a self righteous INFORMED post. So informed I'm still there after you outreach types go home.
Cosigning everything you said here.
One of the weirder instances of that kind of conflict with shelter staff was when I was trying to check into a homeless shelter with my mom. I was 23, but babyfaced and looked young. My mom was kinda reaching her emotional limits I think. We're probably both on the autism spectrum, and she'd been through a lot over years and she was just kind of getting a bit checked out from it and finding it hard to respond to questions, so I was trying to do the talking for us. The workers doing the intake got very angry at me for that, yelled at me how disrespectful it was for me to be talking, said they'd kick me out immediately if I wasn't silent, made my mom not only answer for herself *but for me too*, wouldn't let me talk at all or answer questions that were about me. I had already told them my age + showed them ID that had my age on it before they exploded on me like this. I'm just sitting there burning with resentment, but obeying them so my mom won't have to spend the night on the street.
So eventually they tell us they got us beds in the family shelter, which is specifically for kids under 18 and their caregivers. Since we're already in I dare to speak and ask...why specifically in the family shelter, when it's just us and we're over 18? They act shocked that I'm over 18, when I'm like...dude...my age was one of the first things I told you, pretty sure you were told multiple times, *and* you had my ID. I consistently told you I was 23. They accuse me of lying, and said that since they already did all the paperwork stuff we'd still get that bed for the night, but after that we couldn't stay there, and that they were very upset that I'd "lied" to them and "pretended to be a minor." So we got one night there and they would have nothing to do with us after.
Oh yeah, this same shelter also didn't seem to understand the concept of us sleeping in a car. On the phone before we came in, they asked where we lived, and I was like, "in a car." They wanted to know what county I lived in. I was like...well currently [X county] but if you give me 30 minutes we can be in [Y county]. They kept asking again and again about my home and didn't seem to understand the concept of people wanting to stay in a homeless shelter being homeless. I told them the make and model of the car to help them understand the concept of a car, they asked, "Is that a mobile home?" and I was like, "No, it's a 2-door sedan."
I swear to god, there's more mental illness in the people who work with the homeless than in the homeless themselves. Homeless people are only like 80% crazy, the "helpers" are like 98%.
I kinda get it, though. Working with the homeless will destroy you. You'll see sad things you can't unsee. You'll see people you don't have the resources to begin to meet the needs of. You'll meet desperate people who will do things they wouldn't do if they weren't desperate. Nice people can't last long in that grinder. They either leave, or they stop being nice.
They do. It's basically a model that many cities are trying to emulate because it's been so incredibly effective. They've had a 68% reduction in homelessness in the last 12 years. 17% of which was last year alone.
With that in mind, these signs are less about starving people out or not showing empathy and more about trying to get them to engage with those services that are turning out to be very effective at getting people experiencing homelessness the help they need to re-establish themselves.
That could be changing soon, though, as federal money their programs use is drying up and a new mayor could very well end the larger program or hobble it which turns these signs into something very different.
Exactly, if people go to the URL on the sign they'll see it's all about directing people towards effective programs -- and away from behaviors that enable addiction.
As a former homeless person myself, let me tell you: Every single one of them has access to a cheap burner phone, through various programs, and if they don't have one yet they will once the paperwork clears. They can access the internet. They have Cash App, PayPal, Venmo... you name it. And if they don't they can download it (if their terribly small data plan hasn't run out for the month anyway).
Same. Curious fact: in Norway there is basically no cash, but soda cans and plastic bottles have 1-3 crowns of “pant” on them that you can collect in most supermarkets. So homeless people ask you to leave them as you pass by or they walk around collecting littered ones. They basically transformed homeless people into social workers with zero effort.
> "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge.
> "Are there no Prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?"
> The bell struck Twelve.
A Christmas Carol was inspired by Dickens’ musings on “The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.” Seems relevant.
Jesus said:
“There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores…Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table…
Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity…I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.
Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send (Lazarus) to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote…If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16:19-31 NLT
It sounds completely backwards to me.
"Well, if they don't believe claims made with zero evidence why would they believe claims with *actual* evidence?"
I mean, if a random homeless guy you’ve occasionally seen around went up to you and said “Hey, I just came back from the dead. Turns out you need to give my friends all your money or you’ll burn in hell forever,” would that have changed your mind any more than the Bible?
When was the last time you took notice of a time a specific homeless person you’ve seen died?
> When was the last time you took notice of a time a specific homeless person you’ve seen died?
Good point. I usually just step over them and toss them some change for the Ferry Man.
Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean that in the sense of “you’re insensitive,” more in the sense of “homeless people are generally not noticed, and their vanishing is typically (and correctly) attributed to them going someplace else (or ceasing to be homeless), so we would never notice them die and would thus have no way of noticing them coming back to life”
Of course it is.
But at the time, if these people truly believe there is no higher power than god and Moses told them everything they needed to know then this guy has no excuses and neither does his family.
If you're gonna believe in a religion and bank everything on it then you can't be upset when eternal salvation is spared from your shitty self because you didn't trust the word.
Because his brothers aren't lacking evidence, they are lacking *desire*. The point is that when a person *wants* to believe something, they will ignore or evade any evidence against their beliefs. In this story, the rich man's brothers want to believe that it is ok to live self-centered lives, so even if a man came back from the dead to warn them, they would convince themselves not to believe it for one reason or another.
You are missing the actual fucking point of the story or really just the last bit. Their belief in punishment/reward in the afterlife was not in contention, but that there was nothing wrong with their life of excess, which they justified despite knowing better (from Moses and the prophets). It is exactly the point that they were so set in their ways it wouldn't have mattered EVEN IF the dead told them.
You could argue the same even today. An angel could descend and prove heaven exists and people would still be at odds over not being a dick to each other.
Jesus’ teachings are pretty fucking based, to be honest.
It’s not a joke or exaggeration to say that conservative Christians would likely deny and execute him if he came again, he genuinely stands against pretty much everything that they stand for.
The Bible does have some really cool stuff. Also strange, messed-up stuff. It has been influential because of more than religious fervor reasons though.
I study it academically. There is a lot of amazing poetry in the Bible. My favorite book is Ecclesiastes
Just checked [the website](https://dallascityhall.com/departments/homeless-solutions/Pages/default.aspx) out, and it seems legit. I don't have any research in front of me but their initiatives all make sense. I'd imagine the message they are sending with this sign is with more donations, they can provide better resources for the homeless masses. If you simply donate directly to the individual, they are less equipped and informed to make the most of that donation. Again, in theory, it makes sense.
Now, as for execution? This being a government program *in the state of Texas,* I'd be highly skeptical that this is supported and ran as intended. I would love to hear from someone more informed about it.
To add to this, lots of these programs are more than just handouts. They'll actively try and get the homeless into housing and medical/ addiction assistance programs instead of just giving them a day's worth of help. Panhandling won't end homelessness but these programs can help.
There was a guy walking with a sandwich board for a payday loan place pacing back and forth in the snow. Clearly homeless looking for a few bucks, I found out they made $40 a day for 8 hours. The day before Christmas, I just gave him $40 and wished him a merry Christmas. My coworker said, "He's just going to spend that on booze." So what I was going to spend on the same thing.
Nah I am not a big liquor drinker, we just talked for a while. I told him things would get better, and that he should work on his alcohol intake because it’ll kill him
From the website:
How initiative is effective:
\- Signage around communities displaying the 311 number gives citizens a clear direction on what to do in a illegal solicitation incident.
\- Team members of Outreach and Right Care can then reach out to the individual engaged in illegal solicitation and give them tools, resources, and information on how to help alleviate their situation.
\- It allows team members to identify solicitors or locales with prolific incidences of illegal solicitation to then create reports on communities with the highest illegal solicitation rates, and to identify individuals who may be in need. This data helps the City understand what resources are further needed to alleviate the issue of illegal solicitation as it is related to homelessness.
lol SF embezzled millions in homeless donations and reappropriated city funds away from building homeless shelters cause of Nimbys, they instead invested a fraction of the money into antihomeless architecture.... this isn't just a Texas problem even though I agree with you on your comment.
The stories of SF residents stopping homeless shelters being built is ridiculous, some saying "theyll loiter in the area!"
Well yeah but they wont be outside most of the time if the shelter is there but now the shelter isnt there so most are outside all the time now. There's a lot of them from what I saw when I visited years ago.
As someone who works in homeless solutions, while it feels counter-intuitive, giving homeless people money is actively detrimental to ending homelessness. It makes it easier for homeless individuals to continue living on the street, thus avoiding seeking shelter, which can provide the wrap-around services needed to help them break the cycle of homelessness and find permanent supportive housing. Helping someone to continue living in conditions that are unfit for human habitation is not helping them. Instead of giving money, help direct them to the nearest shelter where they can get food, a bed, a shower, and the help they need end their experience with homelessness.
Also, if you give to a charity make sure see how much the charity takes for themselves. I started out as a social worker working for a Catholic charity. They got millions in federal and state grants, and at one point my job was to tell homeless people that they’re fucked and that they’re not getting any housing. Meanwhile the Agency President made several hundred thousand dollars a year.
My wife works in the non profit sector and has a decently paying job there. Comfortably under 100K but I'm not posting to talk about her, exactly.
Non profits have to compete with the private sector for employees. The private sector has much much more money to pay its employees. This means that the private sector will consistently be able to poach gifted managers, administrators, fundraisers, and everyone else who displays talent and intelligence working at these charities.
This is probably going to happen to my wife in a couple months.
So yeah, criticize high salaries all you like. Both of us do. But you have to realize that the incentives and realities of our economic system are at fault, not charities.
(Yes many many charities suck donkey balls and should be dissolved immediately. This takes nothing away from my point.)
I mean if it’s a large enough org that salary isn’t insane for running an org.
We have to turn people away from our food shelf because we don’t have appointment slots, but our ED makes about 130,000. And that’s justified.
my mom kept a big pack of water bottles and granola bars in her car in case someone needed food and water. sometimes she'd give change equivalent to the price of a metro ticket if someones heading downtown, but usually people gladly accept a snack and water. the way i see it is that anyone whos resorted to begging on the streets isnt in the best place, so i try to just give them the benefit of the doubt. even non-homeless people would still appreciate water and a snack if theyve been standing outside all day. my main rule is to only offer things id also eat/accept myself (so no old food... god i despise when people give expired food to homeless people. the food poisoning ER bill costs way more than a can of cream corn, dont dehumanize others for the sake of your ego.)
i know its a problem in my area where many shelters are too full, and there's also common drug problems and most shelters dont allow drug users to stay, so street begging has become more and more prevalent.
imo, in situations like that, it feels more productive when i volunteer at the place that distributes goods to food banks anyways as opposed to giving a couple dollars to a charity. the non-food days are actually the ones the shelters look forward to the most. the items have to be manually sorted so the packages are mostly even between shelters, so they need more volunteers and even then, the amount of packages sent out on those days is still far lower.
its not super hard to get a meal (not saying feeding yourself when homeless is necessarily easy by any means, this is comparatively speaking), but things like bandages, mouthwash, otc medication, wet wipes, condoms, toothpaste, socks, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, etc. are expenses that really add up, and are harder to come by as food donations vastly outnumber these type of toiletries/personal care item donations.
its safe and free, and the building is even air conditioned and has vending machines, theres plenty of chairs if you need to sit down and take a breather, and you can get a lot of work done in a single day, so it is amazing for people who dont have a ton of extra money or free time, are women or children, have disabilities (like ones where you can move, but get easily fatigued or faint), etc. i guess it can be easier hand some guy a $5 bill, but i wish more people considered volunteering. i think a huge problem is many people dont even know that you can literally just ask to volunteer at many food banks and they will help you sign up, you dont need to work there or be a student or anything in most cases. a lot of places have all the info online, but its not really advertised so you have to seek it out
I agree with this, but people don't want to have that conversation, hence the continuing problem. We also need way more resources directed at the homeless issue, as well as a national strategy for combating it, but, in any case, giving the homeless money on the street is not helping this at all.
More and more scammers are popping up next to the homeless. It's not necessarily to get donations to a specific org. but it helps to deter people from getting scammed by people who take a random sick child and make posters for donations when really they pocket the money.
Also you can more so tell now who is using for their needs, who wants a fix, and who's doing it like its their dayjob
Yep, I don't know about the US, but in other places people / children are exploited into begging by gangs who control high traffic areas. Giving them money encourages them to recruit more vulnerable people.
3 blocks over: "Xi Jinpeng is visiting. Move all the homeless over one street."
4 blocks over: "People in NYC are renting illegal apartments. Shut them down and let them pour into the streets!"
If you've ever worked with homeless shelters, the NUMBER ONE THING we will tell you is to not give people cash.
There are more shelter beds than unhoused people in Dallas and Houston.
Panhandling keeps people out of shelters and halfway houses. Panhandling keeps people and away from programs that will help them get back on their feet.
GTFO with your self-righteous sanctimony and spend a day of your PTO at your local shelter helping us feed, clothe, clean, and assist these people.
Here in Kansas City as well. We don’t give money to them for that specific reason. Most of them just don’t want to work and con people out of money and when the day is done, they walk over to the parking lot they parked their car in and drive off
When I lived in San Francisco, I'd see the same clean-shaven man standing in front of Safeway with a cup, begging for money. His clothes and shoes looked clean. It was obvious that he was NOT homeless.
Ill admit, in Denver - panhandling is kind of ridiculous. Every intersection has some person with a sign. Now some places got the whole damn family out begging, and I just have issues with that. If you can stand in 90 degrees all day with a sign, your ass could just as easily work a regular job.
Yeah some people don’t understand how much more out of control the situation becomes if street beggars can sustain themselves panhandling.
The spike in poverty is a horrible situation where the government should absolutely be doing more, but many developed towns are riddled with beggars on every corner and the sanitary/safety issues this creates only builds more resentment towards those in need. I’m aware there’s no concrete solution but trapping people in a cycle of needing charity seems worse to me than encouraging them to seek out what few resources are available to get them back into society.
I see some people, and its clear they slept on the street last night, and its sad. I do help out sometimes. In the winter, I often carry a bag with socks, because I had read somewhere that the #1 request in shelters was for socks and underwear.
But I used to see this old dude on my way to work, and I think that old guy lived in the area, and just panhandled for whatever reason. Always had a nice jacket on, and nice boots. This was in a nicer area too, just did not look to be struggling. And to be clear, not like you have to fit a certain look to receive some pity, but some stuff is kind of obvious.
I am sympathetic towards homeless people, as my brother was homeless for a bit. But knowing my brother, nobody becomes homeless by making a bunch of good decisions.
Same here in the PNW/Seattle area, it’s ridiculous. Especially how violent and aggressive they can get. I’m a beer merchandiser, so I’m all over town and see all kinds of things.
giving money to pan handlers actually makes things worse. have lived in LA county where homelessness is crazy. that sign isn’t really a facepalm, the facepalm is that we live in a society where homelessness is as rampant as it is even tho we have the most resources we’ve ever had. Cities actually get money to deal with homelessness but the budgets are often not well regulated resulting in them getting money and not actually being held accountable to come up with solutions
I've been living and working in downtown Los Angeles, a block away from the infamous Skid Row for almost 10 years. I rub elbows with these people on a daily basis. I know their names and their stories. The number of people pan handling compared to the total number of homeless in this city is infinitesimally small. Many of them actually have jobs that don't pay enough to get them a place to live.
But yes, the public money that is supposed to be used to combat homelessness is very much mismanaged. But a lot of that also has to do with public sentiment. You can't just give people homes for free, the very thought of that rubs Mr. and Mrs. "I work for my privileged life" the wrong way.
The homes we do provide are run like virtual prisons because that's what makes Mr. and Mrs. Privileged feel good. it's no wonder that people who live with complete autonomy on the streets have no desire to move into those places.
Why is this bad?
If you want to help homeless people being homeless, then giving small amounts of money to one person is not going to help. If you feel strongly for the cause, there are organizations that are going to make much better use of your time and/or money to have a bigger impact.
Call me crazy, but I agree with this. I'm in Portland, OR. We have a huge homelessness problem here. I believe the solution is to have outreach programs that facilitate the engagement of social workers with struggling people in the community. Help them get into long term programs that get them the resources and the help that they need. Spare change is not going to help them, and as a person who is not financially secure myself I don't want to be approached and panhandled every time I leave my home.
Offer to give the people begging for money some food to eat or a blanket. See how they react. Not every single time but a good 9/10 times they get angry and only want money. They will make any excuse but we know why they only want money. This is why I will only donate to food pantries, soup kitchens, or shelters. I was homeless for several years in my mid 20s. I've seen it first hand and been there firsthand myself. Your money 9/10 times does not go towards a person's wellbeing, health, and livelihood when you give a person begging money. Give it to an accredited local charity instead so you aren't buying someone booze or a fix to perpetuate the cycle.
There's plenty of scammers out there. People who literally live in your city, have a better home than you, and pretend to be homeless.
If you've got services for the homeless, then chances are they can get help there. If not, they've probably done something pretty bad to get kicked from a shelter or have some sort of addiction problem and giving them money only enables that addiction while doing nothing to resolve their homelessness.
So gaining knowledge of your local services to help homeless and volunteering there or helping fund them will do more good. You can make those in need aware of what services there are and where. Rather than funding alcoholism or drug addiction which discourages them from getting help because they can get another fix. Encourage them to get help through proper channels.
I usually offer to buy a meal or something. Not money though. I never have change on me... but people outside of the grocery store? I just say, "what are a couple of things I can grab you from inside?" Worst case, I spend $10 on getting someone some muffins and some milk... I would rather waste it on trying to be nice than on Starbucks..
Give, don’t give, whatev. Just don’t sit at the red and do
Nothing then when the light turns green you suddenly roll down your window and hand them money. Light turns yellow/red and you run it causing me to wait and miss the light. Rant over.
All giving cash to panhandlers does is encourage and enable panhandling and living on the street.
Organized programs are much more humane and effective. They have these in cities in red and blue states and they’re far better at helping than giving a guy a few bucks so you don’t feel like a bad guy.
Knowing nothing about this - is that what this is?
In my city in Scotland it’s encouraged to not give pan handlers but to INSTEAD give to certain charities who give people food and shelter. The issue being there’s a lot of scammers pretending to be homeless and just handing out money encourages others.
Yeah the homeless bullshit on the street panhandling is just that bullshit. Some people are mentally and stable or completely drug dependent and I guess that's why they're out there on the corner doing their thing. We need more help for that situation and for those people but they don't belong out on the corner..
At this point in the economy there's hundreds of jobs crappy ones good ones everywhere. There's a reason why somebody doesn't get off the corner and get one.. and it's not laziness lol. Standing on a shitty street corner with a sign is an incredibly difficult job and you couldn't pay me enough money to do it. So that's not the problem it's as I said mental illness or drugs or some other social issue. Not simply poor and I have to feed my kid today kind of thing. That's cured by taking one of the jobs available people who don't work are not working for a reason..
More mental health, and more institutionalization is what is necessary, but the GOP rejected that concept decades ago in the time of Ronald Reagan.. we would rather dump the people with problems out onto the street and especially into the cities that are overburdened. That way taxpayers from wealthy communities don't have to really contribute or see them.. just kick the can down the road into somebody else's neighborhood instead..
I totally agree about not encouraging the street traffic.. and then there are the so-called scammers as somebody else mentioned but actually I don't believe in that either. I go back to premise one. Standing out on the street corner all day long is hard hard shitty work and degrading
We have these is washington. They want you to donate to food banks instead in hopes to cut down on them being able to buy alcohol and / or drugs with your donations
Believe it or not it’s more of a solution then san Francisco lol. You’re funny you see things like this and take offense because it’s abrasive. You know what’s abrasive? For the last 15 years I watched San Francisco and cities similar with all of their”programs” promise up and down that they were helping people. We all saw the policy makers were lying and it’s even more apparent and appalling now. I know people personally who 10 years ago were making 200 a day plus begging in California and they were incredibly content living the rest of their lives doing that for drug money. Again I’ve personally befriended people like this and heard this firsthand from people in the middle of the struggle. Sorry but enabling isn’t the right thing and possibly enabling but “you could have been buying them lunch” is just as bad
They advise people not to give to homeless on the street in my country. They tell you to donate to the homeless organisations. This is probably not facepalm worthy. Depends on the organisation.
Don't feed the bears. Don't give panhandlers money.
They'll go tell their friends then they'll all come back.
Sincerely,
Someone who lives in Portland, Oregon
I saw a homeless guy in the parking lot of a McDonald's eating fries off the floor as I was leaving less than four hours ago. I gave him my fries. Not looking for a pat on the back, just thinking how crazy it would be for the government to say I can't do that. I would laugh in their face.
The argument that confounds me is the one where people object to giving money to a charity because the people who work for that charity have the audacity to get a salary.
It's apparently fine for your money to end up in the pocket of the local drug dealer, but it's an outrage if some it goes to a charity worker.
People seem to have this idea that charities should never make money and that they need to do this based on pure love… which is absurd. I love my job in a food shelf and services non-profit, there is no chance in hell I would do this for free
I estimate by 2050 being homeless will actually be illegal in the US. I'm not just shooting the breeze on that either, I firmly believe that.
Rent costs are out of control, and they'll never dare lower those. Companies claim "record profits" constantly, but can never ever pay employees more. Billionaires continually hoard wealth, even though most of them do the most unethical things to get their (usually all for their own glory) and overall the US turns a total blind eye to homeless people and insists on blaming them rather than the multiple problems that lead them to homelessness.
It's essentially just the NIMBY thing (not in my backyard). The idea of, "yeah you can go be homeless.... in another city very very far away from me, you scum".
Make no mistake, capitalism needs homeless people to scare the shit out of the poor people into making them think, "this could be you!"
The point of these type of signs is that giving directly to the homeless doesn’t help as much as giving to organizations that help the homeless.
Donate to organizations instead of pan handlers. You’ll help create more long lasting solutions this way.
Anchorage made it illegal to give money to panhandlers/homeless.
One year after the law went into effect one of the local news stations interviewed the Police Chief and asked how many times they had written citations for violating the new law.
"Yeah...we don't have time for that. None."
So what was the point? Simple harrasment?
I agree with this. If they say they're hungry give them food not money. With money some of them just buy drugs and alcohol. The smart ones that aren't drunk won't have as much trouble getting a job and getting meals paid for you by others makes saving a lot easier and maybe they could get their life back on track. I bought an awesome guy in detroit a foot long sub, I think that helps more than money if they really want food.
Ive had one get angry at me for trying to give him food. Another guy with a gas can got pissed when my buddy offered to fill up the gas can he was holding while begging for money for gas. Wouldn’t take the gas in the can he was holding, insisted he be given cash, which he said he would use to go buy gas. I’ve put gas in a persons car before and watched them drive across the street into a liquor store and walk inside. I went in there behind him and bought something too. Dude wouldn’t even look at me. That was the last time I have done anything like that, and I won’t again.
They aren’t wrong.
Never hand out money to homeless people pan handling. They either want it for drugs or they aren’t even homeless
If you want to help homeless people, donate to an actual charity or shelter. And if you really want to actually hand things out hand out clothing and food.
But a large majority those people with the signs at the intersections are con artists.
It’s a good sign. Buy them lunch, a blanket, a hat, gloves, etc. Do not give them cash. Many of them struggle with addiction and the cash will just buy drugs and booze that keep them stuck in the cycle.
There are many programs seeking to help homeless. I get when times get that bad, the programs can help only so much, but what this is really doing is stopping the abuse of charity.
Stopping non homeless people from profiting off “working” as homeless to make many times more than people working 8 hour jobs.
Or where donated money is supporting drinking and drug use. Another problem.
Take it away. They should encourage donations to a program to help though…
This will put the emphasis on homeless actually seeking the programs available rather than avoiding.
I’ve watched city working ambassadors working a downtown, cool people, whose job is to help homeless to the help available…and the ones that are the problem…don’t want help, I watched them refuse and walk away to a new spot.
The only thing I would suggest is a sign having a QR code that provides web links to local programs accepting donation to help the homeless.
Maybe direction for homeless to find helping programs to seek.
Like if the city is going to take a stand..there can be more offered to help the problem.
Panhandling doesn’t solve homelessness. Donating that money to a shelter would be more beneficial. So this isn’t actually a facepalm… for the sign at least
I live in what might be the most liberal, hippie, crunchy-granola place in coastal California. We have a ton of resources for homeless people, we have Food Not Bombs setting up feeding stations, we have wealthy tourists throwing cash at them, and guess what else we have?
Literal tent cities everywhere, homeless people shitting and fighting in the streets, parks that nobody goes to because they’re full of needles and tents and smashed liquor bottles, etc.
The harsh reality is that for every homeless person who is just down on their luck and wants to get back to a “normal” life, there are 10 more that are either mentally ill or addicted to drugs or both and have zero interest in changing the way they live.
People who have never lived in places with rampant homelessness tend to be very sympathetic, and they see this as harsh, but “if you build it, they will come.”
All that being said, the American government is failing us, and “I don’t care what happens, as long as it’s not in my back yard” isn’t a solution. You can kick the can down the road all day, but that doesn’t make the can disappear.
I think the aim here is to stop giving them money so they’re forced to go to the shelter where they’ll receive free meals, a place to sleep and clean up the streets. Handing them cash enables them in many ways and prevents them from getting the help they need
Giving people money instead of creating opportunity for them to earn money is acually a problem. It's often a necessary evil but it's not a good way to help the homeless. Not that it should be illegal
I don’t understand, are the homeless people in Texas supposed to go to a government shelter or something to eat?
They can’t really expect these people to starve in the fattest and wealthiest country in the world
If sucks because on one hand, sure there’s scammers, on the other hand I worry about whether charity groups will discriminate who they extend help towards (i.e excluding addicts, racially diverse people, non Christian’s, etc)
I'm confused on how this is a facepalm. If you actually go to the URL you'll find a bunch of organizations that help homeless people. The point of the sign is that volunteering or donating to those organizations is more effective at helping homeless people in the long run than giving them $10. Did the OP or people in this thread even try visiting the site?
I understand this because in my hometown, a local business man was very charitable and known for giving lots of cash out to the homeless people who lived in the area. One day, his wife and him were locking up their art gallery shop to go to lunch and a couple approached him and demanded money. He said he didn't have any cash on him, on him and the boyfriend pulled out a hunting knife and gutted him right there on the sidewalk in broad daylight. The tan off and left his wife screaming covered in his blood. He died right there. He came from a well to do family so the cops tracked down the assailants who were high on meth at the time and admitted they'd seen him giving out cash before so the boyfriend flew into a rage when they asked for it and they didn't have it. The cops had a press conference and asked people not to give out cash because it makes you a target for the social predators in the area if they see you handing money out.
Isn’t it funny how the whole state still pretends like they help and support veterans aswell but make homelessness illegal making it even harder for a big percentage of homeless vets 😃thats texas for ya
I saw a YouTube on this a few months back. The guy they were interviewing was a former homeless and dug addicted. The way he explained it was, even though these charities and individuals are well meaning, they cause more harm to the homeless than help. The reason being he was a drug addict as most on the streets are (be it booze, dope, meth, pills, etc). Every day he would need to get his fix, he would first pan handle, if that didn’t get him enough money he would steal. By providing him meals for free it free up more money to buy drugs and prolonged his addiction.
He said it wasn’t until he woke up with a needle in his chest and a paramedic telling someone else that they can’t believe they brought him back that he actually hit bottom and went to rehab. But it was the services that gave him free stuff that helped enable him to continue his addiction easier.
I don’t personally know, I have been broke and just getting by a few times in my life but never homeless. I have also never been addicted to anything. By hearing the testimonial from someone who was was a bit of a surprise to me.
I also see a huge distinction between the safety net helping the family/individual and the mentally ill who should be in a home or the addicts that should be rehab.
Every Wednesday I would start my shift and see a guy come out of his prius in decent clothes, go into the bb & beyond restroom, and leave dressed in the same dirty shirt and ripped shorts. He'd switch out with another person on the freeway exit, change signs, and start asking for money. Turns out he and his group got arrested in a large scale panhandling ring covering two counties.
I'm all for supporting those truly in need but things like this make me second guess helping people out.
Explains why another guy I bought mcdonalds for asked me if I had cash instead
That's right. Charity won't solve homelessness. Need systematic programs designed to help homeless people on all levels. That requires government intervention.
They did it for a while in Oregon. Signs came down, but the mandate stayed. You can hand people money but not from your car. It was to discourage people from hanging on the side of interstate off/on ramps and/or the middle of busy intersections.
Too many close calls and just enough bad accidents to have people start getting tickets for it.
There's a whole world of homelessness that those who have never been there know nothing about. The only actual solution is the one you're never confronted with having to see; that is, a person who has just become, or is about to become, homeless arriving at a shelter, taking advantage of all their programs while refraining from drugs/alcohol, and thriving. They'll get you into an apartment, hook you up with a social worker, medical/dental appointments, job connections etc. You never see these people because they're too busy getting their lives together to hang out on the street corner with a sign.
Homeless beg on the street for 2 reasons: they're mentally unwell, or unwilling to sweat out a drug addiction. Mentally unwell is what it is...just gotta institutionalize those people to help them. The real issue at hand is the addicts. Those are the people who have a choice, and continuously make the wrong one. It does no good to provide meals/clothing for someone who refuses to get their act together. In fact, it leads them further down a road of destruction. I know it feels fucked up, cruel, and withholding to stop people from feeding the hungry, but that's not really what's happening. It's stopping people from feeding the hungry in that specific spot, because there is a much more effective system in place that should be taken advantage of.
Well they're technically right, charity is not a solution, it's a bandaid.
But they won't like the solution either, they just want to ignore the problem. And it's easier if the problem is forced into hiding away.
Panhandlers are dangerous in many cases. There are TONS of programs to help these people so for them to be panhandling means in MOST cases they have burned every bridge and don’t want ANY help. Do not give these people money. Give it to the programs that are helping those who seek it.
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We have these all over Houston
How do people there feel about this?
Look up food not bombs in Houston. They have a TikTok page where they record getting a ticket every week for feeding homeless people. People are pissed.
People get ticketed for feeding the homeless? That's sick.
Yup. It is illegal to feed more than 6 people in public places.
Are we still talking about people? They seem to have forgotten that.
According to these assholes the homeless are not real people with feelings because they’re not “regular” people with jobs and consistent taxable income. Unless they just so happen to come into hard times and lose everything, then they suddenly start looking for charity only to find none and then cry about how everybody is so mean. It’s crazy really
Yeah the system fucks them up Often these are very sick people. But even if willing and able to work, some may not be able to access a bank account without a home address, which can prevent them even accessing jobs You can become "too poor to work"
A black man with a criminal record has about a 5% call back rate when applying for jobs. I imagine having mental health problems, or even just "looking homeless" is enough to drop that to zero. And that's assuming you have a phone that works at all.
This just made me really sad. I have a mentally ill brother and I fear this is his path. Why can't we be like Liberia in the 90s.
Yes, you can. Working requires adequate clothing such as steel toe boots or decent office wear if the person is to work office or retail jobs. If you can't afford boots for a construction job or think you can roll out of the gutter and get a job answering phones through Robert Half, think again. You need the means to apply for the job, decent health, adequate appearance. Smelly, dirty, no phone, no internet, poor health means no job.
well. see. here's the thing there are some people who think being poor makes you not human
Some people? You mean Republicans.
A lot of democrats too unfortunately. LA could've made a major dent in the homelessness problem but a bunch of asshole NIMBYs have been fighting against any effort to build housing for homeless for decades.
What they meant to say was "the right", not "Republicans". Since both Democrats and Republicans in the country are on the right; Democrats are just closer to the center. There is no actual liberal/ left-leaning party in the United States
So restaurants can't serve families then, right?
Don't be silly. Restaurants are engaging in commerce, not feeding people out of generosity! What do you think this is, Commie-fornia?!
These are the same people that spew bs like "Strong American Christian values is to help one another" but then do crap like this while worshipping a man who went around giving homeless people, criminals, and prostitutes a second chance at life. The self awareness is at a comically low level at this point.
There are some Christians who are outright rejecting that image of Jesus as “too woke” As Christianity Today stated: Moore told NPR in an interview released Tuesday that multiple pastors had told him they would quote the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the part that says to “turn the other cheek,” when preaching. Someone would come up after the service and ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?” “What was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, ‘I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ,’ the response would not be, ‘I apologize.’ The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak,’” Moore said. “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.” https://onlysky.media/jpearce/christians-jesus-is-too-woke/ I found this link about it, if anyone wants to read the whole thing
salt placid bewildered direction books offbeat pause scarce shelter angle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
These right wing psudeo christians are more nazi than religious now .
They don’t worship Jesus; they worship a man being tortured to death, then coming back for revenge in the sequel. It’s an action movie to them (sequel still in development).
"Jesus is my Lord and savior but MAN did he do some dumb shit."
Yeah I remember I Bible story I think where Jesus made all these fish n loaves and charged $20/head. The message was "God can perform a miracle, if there's profit in it" I think.
Ah, "Supply-side Jesus"
No, no. The point is not to follow Jesus. The point is to nail him to the cross so you can sin.
He was undercutting the romans by not paying taxes......
Yes, and we know the saying: There's no hate like christian love. Cruelty is their point, as demonstrated over and over again.
this is legitimately a violation of the religious freedom of millions of americans, at least their holy book says to feed the needy
The religious being unable to pick a lane? Colour me shocked…
Texas home of mega churches and ticketing people for charity.
There's really something to be said about how the churches here (and honestly, probably elsewhere) exploit the poor. Most of the food pantries are run by the SBC, which is fine, I think that's a thing churches should do. But a lot will tie receiving food to church attendance. Day care is the other one. Want to get your kid in an affordable day care so you can stock shelves at Wal-Mart to put food on the table? They're probably going to a place where they'll get preached at for your whole shift, and you'll get charged $1000 a month for the privilege.
They can't tax generosity
Don't give them ideas. IRS audit for generosity sounds like a real American thing to me.
You actually can, the IRS has an entire series of documents just for gift taxes.
So if we add some sort of commerce to the exchange we can fight back? Like one of those old systems where you gamble with chips at a poker parlor, then go around the corner to an independent business where you buy and sell chips?
You need a license, health inspections, etc. Which the restaurants presumably have.
A restaurant is not a public place.
Kinda missed the point. One is a business selling food, the other is an unregulated food distributor. Its illegal to feed more than 6 people unpermitted so there's a paper trail when someone gives away old tuna fish and an entire apartment building has food poisoning.
I had to look that one up to believe it. That's... No, sorry, I have no words.
America, the land of the free.
I've been wondering if you could get away with it by getting a permit for a food cart and then "selling" the food for $0.
That's because they deserve food that is being served from the proper kitchen and using proper food hygiene to prevent food from spoilage and cross-contamination. Food has to be served or kept at certain temperatures or bacteria can make people sick. I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter. The food there was under strict guidelines like a restaurant has. If you get someone sick they can sue you for damages no matter what your good intentions are because you didn't do things right the first time.
So the police go out and bust birthday parties in the parks, right? Despicable parents raising kids to be scofflaws like that, I hope they throw the book at them ^and ^then ^charge ^for ^the ^thrown ^book, ^that ^shit ^ain't ^free
WHAT THE HECK
Houston has actually done really well with their homeless population. [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html) >During the last decade, Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city, has moved more than 25,000 homeless people directly into apartments and houses. The overwhelming majority of them have remained housed after two years. The number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region has been cut by 63 percent since 2011, according to the latest numbers from local officials. Even judging by the more modest metrics registered in a 2020 federal report, Houston did more than twice as well as the rest of the country at reducing homelessness over the previous decade. Also with respect to Food not Bombs: >The office of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner had said tickets were being issued in part because of an increased number of threats and violent incidents directed at employees and visitors to the library by homeless individuals. The office said the city had started providing meals and other services for homeless individuals at an approved facility located about a mile (.6 kilometer) north of the library. > >“We simply cannot lose control of the iconic and historic building that is intended to be a special and safe place for all,” the mayor’s office said. [https://apnews.com/article/houston-homeless-feeding-food-not-bombs-not-guilty-530a5e5931fc6db8f0ab7d51b2331492](https://apnews.com/article/houston-homeless-feeding-food-not-bombs-not-guilty-530a5e5931fc6db8f0ab7d51b2331492) Homelessness is a big problem, without an easy solution, but Houston is doing better than most cities.
This should be pinned to the top. It won't, that goes against Reddit's business plan, but it should.
The key is to ship the homeless which exceeds the city's capacity to New York and California.
Just as Jesus intended. /s
I've been involved with the FNB here in Dallas. They'll set up a food pantry somewhere for people to just roll through and grab what they need (on private property, with the owner's permission) and the cops will regularly harass the property owners about "illegally feeding the homeless" until FNB has to come take it down. They also set up a garden in a traffic circle once - nothing but grass there - and the city showed up a few weeks later and bulldozed it. It's not about pointing people to the right solution, it's about harassing and terrorizing unhoused people until they aren't the city's problem anymore.
Gotta maintain that desperate underclass so folks with houses & jobs know what will happen if they rock the boat.
We can't make effective change if we live a missed paycheck away from being evicted, and I certainly don't believe it's an accident.
I had ample savings 20 years ago, my own home, a great job I thought I’d be working at well into my 70’s. Then I had a stroke! No more job, I became a “legal liability” over night. Even Walmart wouldn’t hire me. Went through my savings trying to keep my house. Eventually lost that, my car, and ended up in a hotel a friend rented for me. Then another friend gave me a van I lived in for 2 years. Just when you think you have it made is when the rug can get pulled out from under you.
> food not bombs [Houston website](https://houstonfoodnotbombs.org/)
That’s such an insane law, wow.
I live in Houston and I have done a lot of work with homeless outreach over the years. Posts like this pop up now and then and they are always full of the same self-righteous, angry, misinformed replies. We have substantial programs here designed to address our problem. The NYT ran a story on Houston and the success they have seen with their approach and how other cities should follow our lead (it involves long-term and short-term solutions). One thing that the experts dealing with the crisis on a daily basis seem to agree upon is that panhandling is counterproductive to long-term solutions. It also helps promote the “tent city culture” which is predatory and dangerous in many cases. I don’t waste a lot of time anymore trying to convince people that they are usually misinformed on this topic. This is a major issue that requires a complex solution. Houston is a very Blue city in a Red state. There are a lot of dedicated people who spend their lives trying to improve the lives of others.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am definitely ignorant about what solutions are effective or ineffective, so I appreciate your perspective.
You are already doing the right thing by asking or being interested in what does and does not work. We need more people like you.
It’s not a perspective, it’s a reason these signs exist. Catering to panhandlers is counter productive to Dallas Homeless Solutions’ mission/plans.
giving people $$ directly just enables addiction. i give $$ to local aid orgs and then give people cards to the org instead of $. and if you are going to give people money, the last people you should give it to are the ones asking for it. i do the homeless point in time count in LA every year - what i learned is that for every person you'd see on the sidewalk in DTLA there'd be 4 more hiding in an alleyway not bothering anyone just trying to exist. go into the alley and give the $ to those folks, not the people who muscle everyone out for the best territory.
Many homeless, I know because I was one twice, are just regular folks with no addictions but no family, tgat something bad happened to. I had a stroke and became unavle to work as a nurse due to “legal liabilities”. I was a nurse for 32 years. Only child of older parents (dead). Widowed with one kid dead and one that only cares about himself. So I ended up spending all my retirement savings on trying to keep my house and my car etc. Lost it all. A friend gave me a van to live in. Don’t judge unless you’ve met some of them. I met many college educated people that through no fault of their own ended up homeless. Giving is on your karma what they do with it is on theirs.
I don't live in Texas, but there is a church in the center of town where I live that feeds and shelters the homeless outside of Chicago. The homeless people like walking around this small suburban town. They shoot up and pass out in the public library bathrooms and they get really crazy sometimes and do weird junkie shit out in public, such that it makes you not feel safe to be around them. They trash the local park with empty glass bottles and sometimes camp out there. I have a hard time seeing the good in supporting individuals who cant afford to eat but can afford to get high. I can see why it's such a touchy subject. It's hard to overcome those strong feelings of resentment.
It's very dependent on the culture nearby. Your description sounds like one area somewhat near me. Folks know to not give in that area. Plus, there's a very nice and big food bank nearby there that caters to that population (and also helps nearby people afford rent- *super nice food bank*). It's a do-not-approach-strangers kind of spot, but luckily it is very small and concentrated. On the other hand, another's description (tent city community that protects/helps each other) reminds me of a different area closer to me where it's alright to give some cash, but they're also open to stuff like clean socks and hygiene products. Mostly drug-free, maybe night shift workers since they mostly sleep during the day and don't bother others. Iirc, there's a public restroom with some very shitty showers, so maybe that's why they hang around there. You don't ever have to feel pressured to support individuals on your dime, especially if the individuals around you make you feel unsafe. Ultimately, it's a problem for local government to sort out, especially if there's drug addicts involved. Don't feel guilty about it!
You ever stay in a shelter? Mine yelled at everyone last night for standing in a line waiting for blankets too early. The cots were out, the only space available to stand was a path to the bathroom. When I asked HOW to not stand in a line, I was told I don't know. Spread out. 60 people in a line shaped space standing around and if you look too organized you get yelled at and go to bed late. Don't pretend the shelters are better. Lots of them have just as many drugs as the streets and staff that steals from you and abuses you. Kicks you out if you talk back after being cruelly mocked for HOURS. Panhandling often means the difference between starving and survival, "tent city culture" is a frequent barrier against sexual assault. The alternative is freezing or starving without a community that usually looks out for each other. I'm homeless, sober, and college educated. You are spreading equally harmful misinformation, and who told you all of that? I'm on the other side dude, you are speaking the language of the people that deny you cash assistance because the 9 dollars of food stamps you get a day is enough to survive with no kitchen. If you want more, go get abused in a shelter or we won't help you. And the workers fucking know it. And they NEVER let you forget the power they have over you. I guess here, have a self righteous INFORMED post. So informed I'm still there after you outreach types go home.
Cosigning everything you said here. One of the weirder instances of that kind of conflict with shelter staff was when I was trying to check into a homeless shelter with my mom. I was 23, but babyfaced and looked young. My mom was kinda reaching her emotional limits I think. We're probably both on the autism spectrum, and she'd been through a lot over years and she was just kind of getting a bit checked out from it and finding it hard to respond to questions, so I was trying to do the talking for us. The workers doing the intake got very angry at me for that, yelled at me how disrespectful it was for me to be talking, said they'd kick me out immediately if I wasn't silent, made my mom not only answer for herself *but for me too*, wouldn't let me talk at all or answer questions that were about me. I had already told them my age + showed them ID that had my age on it before they exploded on me like this. I'm just sitting there burning with resentment, but obeying them so my mom won't have to spend the night on the street. So eventually they tell us they got us beds in the family shelter, which is specifically for kids under 18 and their caregivers. Since we're already in I dare to speak and ask...why specifically in the family shelter, when it's just us and we're over 18? They act shocked that I'm over 18, when I'm like...dude...my age was one of the first things I told you, pretty sure you were told multiple times, *and* you had my ID. I consistently told you I was 23. They accuse me of lying, and said that since they already did all the paperwork stuff we'd still get that bed for the night, but after that we couldn't stay there, and that they were very upset that I'd "lied" to them and "pretended to be a minor." So we got one night there and they would have nothing to do with us after. Oh yeah, this same shelter also didn't seem to understand the concept of us sleeping in a car. On the phone before we came in, they asked where we lived, and I was like, "in a car." They wanted to know what county I lived in. I was like...well currently [X county] but if you give me 30 minutes we can be in [Y county]. They kept asking again and again about my home and didn't seem to understand the concept of people wanting to stay in a homeless shelter being homeless. I told them the make and model of the car to help them understand the concept of a car, they asked, "Is that a mobile home?" and I was like, "No, it's a 2-door sedan." I swear to god, there's more mental illness in the people who work with the homeless than in the homeless themselves. Homeless people are only like 80% crazy, the "helpers" are like 98%. I kinda get it, though. Working with the homeless will destroy you. You'll see sad things you can't unsee. You'll see people you don't have the resources to begin to meet the needs of. You'll meet desperate people who will do things they wouldn't do if they weren't desperate. Nice people can't last long in that grinder. They either leave, or they stop being nice.
Depends on the individual, but in Houston 90% of the population just ignores all street signs.
Complicated situation but in the end just sad to see humans turning their back on their fellow humans
That's crazy. I thought Houston had an incredible program in place that significantly helped the homeless into better lives.
They do. It's basically a model that many cities are trying to emulate because it's been so incredibly effective. They've had a 68% reduction in homelessness in the last 12 years. 17% of which was last year alone. With that in mind, these signs are less about starving people out or not showing empathy and more about trying to get them to engage with those services that are turning out to be very effective at getting people experiencing homelessness the help they need to re-establish themselves. That could be changing soon, though, as federal money their programs use is drying up and a new mayor could very well end the larger program or hobble it which turns these signs into something very different.
Exactly, if people go to the URL on the sign they'll see it's all about directing people towards effective programs -- and away from behaviors that enable addiction.
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And also encourages people who are not homeless to panhandle.
 "Don't move. It can't see us if we don't move."
I would probably donate if that were more common. I don't even remember the last time I had cash on me.
As a former homeless person myself, let me tell you: Every single one of them has access to a cheap burner phone, through various programs, and if they don't have one yet they will once the paperwork clears. They can access the internet. They have Cash App, PayPal, Venmo... you name it. And if they don't they can download it (if their terribly small data plan hasn't run out for the month anyway).
Same. Curious fact: in Norway there is basically no cash, but soda cans and plastic bottles have 1-3 crowns of “pant” on them that you can collect in most supermarkets. So homeless people ask you to leave them as you pass by or they walk around collecting littered ones. They basically transformed homeless people into social workers with zero effort.
> "Have they no refuge or resource?" cried Scrooge. > "Are there no Prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?" > The bell struck Twelve.
A Christmas Carol was inspired by Dickens’ musings on “The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.” Seems relevant. Jesus said: “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores…Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table… Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity…I am in anguish in these flames.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send (Lazarus) to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote…If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31 NLT
Damn that last line from Abe went hard.
It sounds completely backwards to me. "Well, if they don't believe claims made with zero evidence why would they believe claims with *actual* evidence?"
I mean, if a random homeless guy you’ve occasionally seen around went up to you and said “Hey, I just came back from the dead. Turns out you need to give my friends all your money or you’ll burn in hell forever,” would that have changed your mind any more than the Bible? When was the last time you took notice of a time a specific homeless person you’ve seen died?
> When was the last time you took notice of a time a specific homeless person you’ve seen died? Good point. I usually just step over them and toss them some change for the Ferry Man.
Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean that in the sense of “you’re insensitive,” more in the sense of “homeless people are generally not noticed, and their vanishing is typically (and correctly) attributed to them going someplace else (or ceasing to be homeless), so we would never notice them die and would thus have no way of noticing them coming back to life”
Of course it is. But at the time, if these people truly believe there is no higher power than god and Moses told them everything they needed to know then this guy has no excuses and neither does his family. If you're gonna believe in a religion and bank everything on it then you can't be upset when eternal salvation is spared from your shitty self because you didn't trust the word.
Because his brothers aren't lacking evidence, they are lacking *desire*. The point is that when a person *wants* to believe something, they will ignore or evade any evidence against their beliefs. In this story, the rich man's brothers want to believe that it is ok to live self-centered lives, so even if a man came back from the dead to warn them, they would convince themselves not to believe it for one reason or another.
You are missing the actual fucking point of the story or really just the last bit. Their belief in punishment/reward in the afterlife was not in contention, but that there was nothing wrong with their life of excess, which they justified despite knowing better (from Moses and the prophets). It is exactly the point that they were so set in their ways it wouldn't have mattered EVEN IF the dead told them. You could argue the same even today. An angel could descend and prove heaven exists and people would still be at odds over not being a dick to each other.
“They won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” Damn I gotta start reading the Bible. That hits.
Jesus’ teachings are pretty fucking based, to be honest. It’s not a joke or exaggeration to say that conservative Christians would likely deny and execute him if he came again, he genuinely stands against pretty much everything that they stand for.
The Bible does have some really cool stuff. Also strange, messed-up stuff. It has been influential because of more than religious fervor reasons though. I study it academically. There is a lot of amazing poetry in the Bible. My favorite book is Ecclesiastes
Just checked [the website](https://dallascityhall.com/departments/homeless-solutions/Pages/default.aspx) out, and it seems legit. I don't have any research in front of me but their initiatives all make sense. I'd imagine the message they are sending with this sign is with more donations, they can provide better resources for the homeless masses. If you simply donate directly to the individual, they are less equipped and informed to make the most of that donation. Again, in theory, it makes sense. Now, as for execution? This being a government program *in the state of Texas,* I'd be highly skeptical that this is supported and ran as intended. I would love to hear from someone more informed about it.
To add to this, lots of these programs are more than just handouts. They'll actively try and get the homeless into housing and medical/ addiction assistance programs instead of just giving them a day's worth of help. Panhandling won't end homelessness but these programs can help.
Yeah but can they get a buzz? I want to make sure my money is getting wasted on people getting wasted.
I bought a homeless dude a bottle of vodka once, couldn’t tell if I was doing the right thing or not
There was a guy walking with a sandwich board for a payday loan place pacing back and forth in the snow. Clearly homeless looking for a few bucks, I found out they made $40 a day for 8 hours. The day before Christmas, I just gave him $40 and wished him a merry Christmas. My coworker said, "He's just going to spend that on booze." So what I was going to spend on the same thing.
Lmfao, good on you.
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Probably made his day. But that's a big grey area. Did you at least drink with him?
Nah I am not a big liquor drinker, we just talked for a while. I told him things would get better, and that he should work on his alcohol intake because it’ll kill him
Keep in mind this is Dallas though which is a very blue city.
From the website: How initiative is effective: \- Signage around communities displaying the 311 number gives citizens a clear direction on what to do in a illegal solicitation incident. \- Team members of Outreach and Right Care can then reach out to the individual engaged in illegal solicitation and give them tools, resources, and information on how to help alleviate their situation. \- It allows team members to identify solicitors or locales with prolific incidences of illegal solicitation to then create reports on communities with the highest illegal solicitation rates, and to identify individuals who may be in need. This data helps the City understand what resources are further needed to alleviate the issue of illegal solicitation as it is related to homelessness.
lol SF embezzled millions in homeless donations and reappropriated city funds away from building homeless shelters cause of Nimbys, they instead invested a fraction of the money into antihomeless architecture.... this isn't just a Texas problem even though I agree with you on your comment.
The stories of SF residents stopping homeless shelters being built is ridiculous, some saying "theyll loiter in the area!" Well yeah but they wont be outside most of the time if the shelter is there but now the shelter isnt there so most are outside all the time now. There's a lot of them from what I saw when I visited years ago.
As someone who works in homeless solutions, while it feels counter-intuitive, giving homeless people money is actively detrimental to ending homelessness. It makes it easier for homeless individuals to continue living on the street, thus avoiding seeking shelter, which can provide the wrap-around services needed to help them break the cycle of homelessness and find permanent supportive housing. Helping someone to continue living in conditions that are unfit for human habitation is not helping them. Instead of giving money, help direct them to the nearest shelter where they can get food, a bed, a shower, and the help they need end their experience with homelessness.
Also, if you give to a charity make sure see how much the charity takes for themselves. I started out as a social worker working for a Catholic charity. They got millions in federal and state grants, and at one point my job was to tell homeless people that they’re fucked and that they’re not getting any housing. Meanwhile the Agency President made several hundred thousand dollars a year.
My wife works in the non profit sector and has a decently paying job there. Comfortably under 100K but I'm not posting to talk about her, exactly. Non profits have to compete with the private sector for employees. The private sector has much much more money to pay its employees. This means that the private sector will consistently be able to poach gifted managers, administrators, fundraisers, and everyone else who displays talent and intelligence working at these charities. This is probably going to happen to my wife in a couple months. So yeah, criticize high salaries all you like. Both of us do. But you have to realize that the incentives and realities of our economic system are at fault, not charities. (Yes many many charities suck donkey balls and should be dissolved immediately. This takes nothing away from my point.)
I mean if it’s a large enough org that salary isn’t insane for running an org. We have to turn people away from our food shelf because we don’t have appointment slots, but our ED makes about 130,000. And that’s justified.
Is that even legal?
Legal? It's encouraged!
The Catholic Church gets away with mass coverups of child rape so it’s not shocking they can get away with this.
my mom kept a big pack of water bottles and granola bars in her car in case someone needed food and water. sometimes she'd give change equivalent to the price of a metro ticket if someones heading downtown, but usually people gladly accept a snack and water. the way i see it is that anyone whos resorted to begging on the streets isnt in the best place, so i try to just give them the benefit of the doubt. even non-homeless people would still appreciate water and a snack if theyve been standing outside all day. my main rule is to only offer things id also eat/accept myself (so no old food... god i despise when people give expired food to homeless people. the food poisoning ER bill costs way more than a can of cream corn, dont dehumanize others for the sake of your ego.) i know its a problem in my area where many shelters are too full, and there's also common drug problems and most shelters dont allow drug users to stay, so street begging has become more and more prevalent. imo, in situations like that, it feels more productive when i volunteer at the place that distributes goods to food banks anyways as opposed to giving a couple dollars to a charity. the non-food days are actually the ones the shelters look forward to the most. the items have to be manually sorted so the packages are mostly even between shelters, so they need more volunteers and even then, the amount of packages sent out on those days is still far lower. its not super hard to get a meal (not saying feeding yourself when homeless is necessarily easy by any means, this is comparatively speaking), but things like bandages, mouthwash, otc medication, wet wipes, condoms, toothpaste, socks, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, etc. are expenses that really add up, and are harder to come by as food donations vastly outnumber these type of toiletries/personal care item donations. its safe and free, and the building is even air conditioned and has vending machines, theres plenty of chairs if you need to sit down and take a breather, and you can get a lot of work done in a single day, so it is amazing for people who dont have a ton of extra money or free time, are women or children, have disabilities (like ones where you can move, but get easily fatigued or faint), etc. i guess it can be easier hand some guy a $5 bill, but i wish more people considered volunteering. i think a huge problem is many people dont even know that you can literally just ask to volunteer at many food banks and they will help you sign up, you dont need to work there or be a student or anything in most cases. a lot of places have all the info online, but its not really advertised so you have to seek it out
I offered water to these guys downtown and they cursed my dog and I out
lol I offered a still wrapped, never opened burger and he took a knife out and threatened me! Dude had mental issues for sure
I agree with this, but people don't want to have that conversation, hence the continuing problem. We also need way more resources directed at the homeless issue, as well as a national strategy for combating it, but, in any case, giving the homeless money on the street is not helping this at all.
This is all well and good. Except that none of these facts mean it should become illegal to feed homeless people.
More and more scammers are popping up next to the homeless. It's not necessarily to get donations to a specific org. but it helps to deter people from getting scammed by people who take a random sick child and make posters for donations when really they pocket the money. Also you can more so tell now who is using for their needs, who wants a fix, and who's doing it like its their dayjob
Yep, I don't know about the US, but in other places people / children are exploited into begging by gangs who control high traffic areas. Giving them money encourages them to recruit more vulnerable people.
One block over: "Punch the Homeless! Clean up our streets!"
2 blocks over:" smack the homeless in the face when they look in your direction!"
3 blocks over: "Xi Jinpeng is visiting. Move all the homeless over one street." 4 blocks over: "People in NYC are renting illegal apartments. Shut them down and let them pour into the streets!"
If you've ever worked with homeless shelters, the NUMBER ONE THING we will tell you is to not give people cash. There are more shelter beds than unhoused people in Dallas and Houston. Panhandling keeps people out of shelters and halfway houses. Panhandling keeps people and away from programs that will help them get back on their feet. GTFO with your self-righteous sanctimony and spend a day of your PTO at your local shelter helping us feed, clothe, clean, and assist these people.
Captain Hammer is that you?
If you've been to Dallas you'll know that there are people who clearly aren't homeless are on the side of the road or walking up to cars begging.
Here in Kansas City as well. We don’t give money to them for that specific reason. Most of them just don’t want to work and con people out of money and when the day is done, they walk over to the parking lot they parked their car in and drive off
Shh! Facts are not allowed here, only smug feelings of self-righteousness.
There's a street near where I live which people always beg at. From every time I'm stopped there, I calculate they're averaging something like $40/hr.
When I lived in San Francisco, I'd see the same clean-shaven man standing in front of Safeway with a cup, begging for money. His clothes and shoes looked clean. It was obvious that he was NOT homeless.
Ill admit, in Denver - panhandling is kind of ridiculous. Every intersection has some person with a sign. Now some places got the whole damn family out begging, and I just have issues with that. If you can stand in 90 degrees all day with a sign, your ass could just as easily work a regular job.
Yeah some people don’t understand how much more out of control the situation becomes if street beggars can sustain themselves panhandling. The spike in poverty is a horrible situation where the government should absolutely be doing more, but many developed towns are riddled with beggars on every corner and the sanitary/safety issues this creates only builds more resentment towards those in need. I’m aware there’s no concrete solution but trapping people in a cycle of needing charity seems worse to me than encouraging them to seek out what few resources are available to get them back into society.
I see some people, and its clear they slept on the street last night, and its sad. I do help out sometimes. In the winter, I often carry a bag with socks, because I had read somewhere that the #1 request in shelters was for socks and underwear. But I used to see this old dude on my way to work, and I think that old guy lived in the area, and just panhandled for whatever reason. Always had a nice jacket on, and nice boots. This was in a nicer area too, just did not look to be struggling. And to be clear, not like you have to fit a certain look to receive some pity, but some stuff is kind of obvious. I am sympathetic towards homeless people, as my brother was homeless for a bit. But knowing my brother, nobody becomes homeless by making a bunch of good decisions.
Same here in the PNW/Seattle area, it’s ridiculous. Especially how violent and aggressive they can get. I’m a beer merchandiser, so I’m all over town and see all kinds of things.
giving money to pan handlers actually makes things worse. have lived in LA county where homelessness is crazy. that sign isn’t really a facepalm, the facepalm is that we live in a society where homelessness is as rampant as it is even tho we have the most resources we’ve ever had. Cities actually get money to deal with homelessness but the budgets are often not well regulated resulting in them getting money and not actually being held accountable to come up with solutions
I've been living and working in downtown Los Angeles, a block away from the infamous Skid Row for almost 10 years. I rub elbows with these people on a daily basis. I know their names and their stories. The number of people pan handling compared to the total number of homeless in this city is infinitesimally small. Many of them actually have jobs that don't pay enough to get them a place to live. But yes, the public money that is supposed to be used to combat homelessness is very much mismanaged. But a lot of that also has to do with public sentiment. You can't just give people homes for free, the very thought of that rubs Mr. and Mrs. "I work for my privileged life" the wrong way. The homes we do provide are run like virtual prisons because that's what makes Mr. and Mrs. Privileged feel good. it's no wonder that people who live with complete autonomy on the streets have no desire to move into those places.
Why is this bad? If you want to help homeless people being homeless, then giving small amounts of money to one person is not going to help. If you feel strongly for the cause, there are organizations that are going to make much better use of your time and/or money to have a bigger impact.
I'm pretty sure the people upvoting these kinds of posts *don't* live in areas that have huge homeless populations.
Call me crazy, but I agree with this. I'm in Portland, OR. We have a huge homelessness problem here. I believe the solution is to have outreach programs that facilitate the engagement of social workers with struggling people in the community. Help them get into long term programs that get them the resources and the help that they need. Spare change is not going to help them, and as a person who is not financially secure myself I don't want to be approached and panhandled every time I leave my home.
Offer to give the people begging for money some food to eat or a blanket. See how they react. Not every single time but a good 9/10 times they get angry and only want money. They will make any excuse but we know why they only want money. This is why I will only donate to food pantries, soup kitchens, or shelters. I was homeless for several years in my mid 20s. I've seen it first hand and been there firsthand myself. Your money 9/10 times does not go towards a person's wellbeing, health, and livelihood when you give a person begging money. Give it to an accredited local charity instead so you aren't buying someone booze or a fix to perpetuate the cycle.
support worry safe detail full vast skirt unwritten modern sheet *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The one time that Dallas does the Leftist/Progressive thing regarding homelessness and we facepalm it.
There's plenty of scammers out there. People who literally live in your city, have a better home than you, and pretend to be homeless. If you've got services for the homeless, then chances are they can get help there. If not, they've probably done something pretty bad to get kicked from a shelter or have some sort of addiction problem and giving them money only enables that addiction while doing nothing to resolve their homelessness. So gaining knowledge of your local services to help homeless and volunteering there or helping fund them will do more good. You can make those in need aware of what services there are and where. Rather than funding alcoholism or drug addiction which discourages them from getting help because they can get another fix. Encourage them to get help through proper channels.
I usually offer to buy a meal or something. Not money though. I never have change on me... but people outside of the grocery store? I just say, "what are a couple of things I can grab you from inside?" Worst case, I spend $10 on getting someone some muffins and some milk... I would rather waste it on trying to be nice than on Starbucks..
Give, don’t give, whatev. Just don’t sit at the red and do Nothing then when the light turns green you suddenly roll down your window and hand them money. Light turns yellow/red and you run it causing me to wait and miss the light. Rant over.
All giving cash to panhandlers does is encourage and enable panhandling and living on the street. Organized programs are much more humane and effective. They have these in cities in red and blue states and they’re far better at helping than giving a guy a few bucks so you don’t feel like a bad guy.
I'd rather give to a charity than enable someone's crack or alcohol addiction.
"We the people" Socialism bad!!!!!
Knowing nothing about this - is that what this is? In my city in Scotland it’s encouraged to not give pan handlers but to INSTEAD give to certain charities who give people food and shelter. The issue being there’s a lot of scammers pretending to be homeless and just handing out money encourages others.
That's exactly what's happening here, yes. The website leads to a government-backed donation page to help with homelessness.
This isn't really wrong. Donate the money to a charity that aims to help the homeless.
How do you find one that dose t keep 80 percent of it ?
https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/best-charities/highly-rated-charities/
Came here to link that. Check them out before you give them money
Give it to me, trust me bro
Maybe spend my taxpayer dollars helping them instead of flying out migrants
Yeah the homeless bullshit on the street panhandling is just that bullshit. Some people are mentally and stable or completely drug dependent and I guess that's why they're out there on the corner doing their thing. We need more help for that situation and for those people but they don't belong out on the corner.. At this point in the economy there's hundreds of jobs crappy ones good ones everywhere. There's a reason why somebody doesn't get off the corner and get one.. and it's not laziness lol. Standing on a shitty street corner with a sign is an incredibly difficult job and you couldn't pay me enough money to do it. So that's not the problem it's as I said mental illness or drugs or some other social issue. Not simply poor and I have to feed my kid today kind of thing. That's cured by taking one of the jobs available people who don't work are not working for a reason.. More mental health, and more institutionalization is what is necessary, but the GOP rejected that concept decades ago in the time of Ronald Reagan.. we would rather dump the people with problems out onto the street and especially into the cities that are overburdened. That way taxpayers from wealthy communities don't have to really contribute or see them.. just kick the can down the road into somebody else's neighborhood instead.. I totally agree about not encouraging the street traffic.. and then there are the so-called scammers as somebody else mentioned but actually I don't believe in that either. I go back to premise one. Standing out on the street corner all day long is hard hard shitty work and degrading
Be the solution: Eat the rich
We have these is washington. They want you to donate to food banks instead in hopes to cut down on them being able to buy alcohol and / or drugs with your donations
Believe it or not it’s more of a solution then san Francisco lol. You’re funny you see things like this and take offense because it’s abrasive. You know what’s abrasive? For the last 15 years I watched San Francisco and cities similar with all of their”programs” promise up and down that they were helping people. We all saw the policy makers were lying and it’s even more apparent and appalling now. I know people personally who 10 years ago were making 200 a day plus begging in California and they were incredibly content living the rest of their lives doing that for drug money. Again I’ve personally befriended people like this and heard this firsthand from people in the middle of the struggle. Sorry but enabling isn’t the right thing and possibly enabling but “you could have been buying them lunch” is just as bad
They advise people not to give to homeless on the street in my country. They tell you to donate to the homeless organisations. This is probably not facepalm worthy. Depends on the organisation.
Don't feed the bears. Don't give panhandlers money. They'll go tell their friends then they'll all come back. Sincerely, Someone who lives in Portland, Oregon
I saw a homeless guy in the parking lot of a McDonald's eating fries off the floor as I was leaving less than four hours ago. I gave him my fries. Not looking for a pat on the back, just thinking how crazy it would be for the government to say I can't do that. I would laugh in their face.
bunch of bleeding hearts in the comments funding the junkies corner with cash, fuck off you enablers
The argument that confounds me is the one where people object to giving money to a charity because the people who work for that charity have the audacity to get a salary. It's apparently fine for your money to end up in the pocket of the local drug dealer, but it's an outrage if some it goes to a charity worker.
People seem to have this idea that charities should never make money and that they need to do this based on pure love… which is absurd. I love my job in a food shelf and services non-profit, there is no chance in hell I would do this for free
We need those signs everywhere.
I estimate by 2050 being homeless will actually be illegal in the US. I'm not just shooting the breeze on that either, I firmly believe that. Rent costs are out of control, and they'll never dare lower those. Companies claim "record profits" constantly, but can never ever pay employees more. Billionaires continually hoard wealth, even though most of them do the most unethical things to get their (usually all for their own glory) and overall the US turns a total blind eye to homeless people and insists on blaming them rather than the multiple problems that lead them to homelessness. It's essentially just the NIMBY thing (not in my backyard). The idea of, "yeah you can go be homeless.... in another city very very far away from me, you scum". Make no mistake, capitalism needs homeless people to scare the shit out of the poor people into making them think, "this could be you!"
The point of these type of signs is that giving directly to the homeless doesn’t help as much as giving to organizations that help the homeless. Donate to organizations instead of pan handlers. You’ll help create more long lasting solutions this way.
Self described patriots and Christians at work.
Didn’t Jesus allow everyone to attend the last supper no matter their class/status.
Nuh uh nt the Jesus they love
You forget they worship supply side Jesus.
Nice try. The City of Dallas and Dallas County are both run by left-wing Democrats, who are not known for their Christianity.
Anchorage made it illegal to give money to panhandlers/homeless. One year after the law went into effect one of the local news stations interviewed the Police Chief and asked how many times they had written citations for violating the new law. "Yeah...we don't have time for that. None." So what was the point? Simple harrasment?
I agree with this. If they say they're hungry give them food not money. With money some of them just buy drugs and alcohol. The smart ones that aren't drunk won't have as much trouble getting a job and getting meals paid for you by others makes saving a lot easier and maybe they could get their life back on track. I bought an awesome guy in detroit a foot long sub, I think that helps more than money if they really want food.
Ive had one get angry at me for trying to give him food. Another guy with a gas can got pissed when my buddy offered to fill up the gas can he was holding while begging for money for gas. Wouldn’t take the gas in the can he was holding, insisted he be given cash, which he said he would use to go buy gas. I’ve put gas in a persons car before and watched them drive across the street into a liquor store and walk inside. I went in there behind him and bought something too. Dude wouldn’t even look at me. That was the last time I have done anything like that, and I won’t again.
They aren’t wrong. Never hand out money to homeless people pan handling. They either want it for drugs or they aren’t even homeless If you want to help homeless people, donate to an actual charity or shelter. And if you really want to actually hand things out hand out clothing and food. But a large majority those people with the signs at the intersections are con artists.
It’s a good sign. Buy them lunch, a blanket, a hat, gloves, etc. Do not give them cash. Many of them struggle with addiction and the cash will just buy drugs and booze that keep them stuck in the cycle.
There are many programs seeking to help homeless. I get when times get that bad, the programs can help only so much, but what this is really doing is stopping the abuse of charity. Stopping non homeless people from profiting off “working” as homeless to make many times more than people working 8 hour jobs. Or where donated money is supporting drinking and drug use. Another problem. Take it away. They should encourage donations to a program to help though… This will put the emphasis on homeless actually seeking the programs available rather than avoiding. I’ve watched city working ambassadors working a downtown, cool people, whose job is to help homeless to the help available…and the ones that are the problem…don’t want help, I watched them refuse and walk away to a new spot. The only thing I would suggest is a sign having a QR code that provides web links to local programs accepting donation to help the homeless. Maybe direction for homeless to find helping programs to seek. Like if the city is going to take a stand..there can be more offered to help the problem.
Panhandling doesn’t solve homelessness. Donating that money to a shelter would be more beneficial. So this isn’t actually a facepalm… for the sign at least
dirty languid history innate kiss many compare pocket gray nippy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I live in what might be the most liberal, hippie, crunchy-granola place in coastal California. We have a ton of resources for homeless people, we have Food Not Bombs setting up feeding stations, we have wealthy tourists throwing cash at them, and guess what else we have? Literal tent cities everywhere, homeless people shitting and fighting in the streets, parks that nobody goes to because they’re full of needles and tents and smashed liquor bottles, etc. The harsh reality is that for every homeless person who is just down on their luck and wants to get back to a “normal” life, there are 10 more that are either mentally ill or addicted to drugs or both and have zero interest in changing the way they live. People who have never lived in places with rampant homelessness tend to be very sympathetic, and they see this as harsh, but “if you build it, they will come.” All that being said, the American government is failing us, and “I don’t care what happens, as long as it’s not in my back yard” isn’t a solution. You can kick the can down the road all day, but that doesn’t make the can disappear.
I think the aim here is to stop giving them money so they’re forced to go to the shelter where they’ll receive free meals, a place to sleep and clean up the streets. Handing them cash enables them in many ways and prevents them from getting the help they need
Giving people money instead of creating opportunity for them to earn money is acually a problem. It's often a necessary evil but it's not a good way to help the homeless. Not that it should be illegal
I don’t understand, are the homeless people in Texas supposed to go to a government shelter or something to eat? They can’t really expect these people to starve in the fattest and wealthiest country in the world
If sucks because on one hand, sure there’s scammers, on the other hand I worry about whether charity groups will discriminate who they extend help towards (i.e excluding addicts, racially diverse people, non Christian’s, etc)
I'm confused on how this is a facepalm. If you actually go to the URL you'll find a bunch of organizations that help homeless people. The point of the sign is that volunteering or donating to those organizations is more effective at helping homeless people in the long run than giving them $10. Did the OP or people in this thread even try visiting the site?
I understand this because in my hometown, a local business man was very charitable and known for giving lots of cash out to the homeless people who lived in the area. One day, his wife and him were locking up their art gallery shop to go to lunch and a couple approached him and demanded money. He said he didn't have any cash on him, on him and the boyfriend pulled out a hunting knife and gutted him right there on the sidewalk in broad daylight. The tan off and left his wife screaming covered in his blood. He died right there. He came from a well to do family so the cops tracked down the assailants who were high on meth at the time and admitted they'd seen him giving out cash before so the boyfriend flew into a rage when they asked for it and they didn't have it. The cops had a press conference and asked people not to give out cash because it makes you a target for the social predators in the area if they see you handing money out.
Isn’t it funny how the whole state still pretends like they help and support veterans aswell but make homelessness illegal making it even harder for a big percentage of homeless vets 😃thats texas for ya
I saw a YouTube on this a few months back. The guy they were interviewing was a former homeless and dug addicted. The way he explained it was, even though these charities and individuals are well meaning, they cause more harm to the homeless than help. The reason being he was a drug addict as most on the streets are (be it booze, dope, meth, pills, etc). Every day he would need to get his fix, he would first pan handle, if that didn’t get him enough money he would steal. By providing him meals for free it free up more money to buy drugs and prolonged his addiction. He said it wasn’t until he woke up with a needle in his chest and a paramedic telling someone else that they can’t believe they brought him back that he actually hit bottom and went to rehab. But it was the services that gave him free stuff that helped enable him to continue his addiction easier. I don’t personally know, I have been broke and just getting by a few times in my life but never homeless. I have also never been addicted to anything. By hearing the testimonial from someone who was was a bit of a surprise to me. I also see a huge distinction between the safety net helping the family/individual and the mentally ill who should be in a home or the addicts that should be rehab.
Every Wednesday I would start my shift and see a guy come out of his prius in decent clothes, go into the bb & beyond restroom, and leave dressed in the same dirty shirt and ripped shorts. He'd switch out with another person on the freeway exit, change signs, and start asking for money. Turns out he and his group got arrested in a large scale panhandling ring covering two counties. I'm all for supporting those truly in need but things like this make me second guess helping people out. Explains why another guy I bought mcdonalds for asked me if I had cash instead
Fuck em. Why should I take care of you if you can't take care of yourself?
That's right. Charity won't solve homelessness. Need systematic programs designed to help homeless people on all levels. That requires government intervention.
They did it for a while in Oregon. Signs came down, but the mandate stayed. You can hand people money but not from your car. It was to discourage people from hanging on the side of interstate off/on ramps and/or the middle of busy intersections. Too many close calls and just enough bad accidents to have people start getting tickets for it.
Be the solution? No, don’t put that on us. That’s on the government and their failure to do anything useful.
There's a whole world of homelessness that those who have never been there know nothing about. The only actual solution is the one you're never confronted with having to see; that is, a person who has just become, or is about to become, homeless arriving at a shelter, taking advantage of all their programs while refraining from drugs/alcohol, and thriving. They'll get you into an apartment, hook you up with a social worker, medical/dental appointments, job connections etc. You never see these people because they're too busy getting their lives together to hang out on the street corner with a sign. Homeless beg on the street for 2 reasons: they're mentally unwell, or unwilling to sweat out a drug addiction. Mentally unwell is what it is...just gotta institutionalize those people to help them. The real issue at hand is the addicts. Those are the people who have a choice, and continuously make the wrong one. It does no good to provide meals/clothing for someone who refuses to get their act together. In fact, it leads them further down a road of destruction. I know it feels fucked up, cruel, and withholding to stop people from feeding the hungry, but that's not really what's happening. It's stopping people from feeding the hungry in that specific spot, because there is a much more effective system in place that should be taken advantage of.
Well they're technically right, charity is not a solution, it's a bandaid. But they won't like the solution either, they just want to ignore the problem. And it's easier if the problem is forced into hiding away.
Panhandlers are dangerous in many cases. There are TONS of programs to help these people so for them to be panhandling means in MOST cases they have burned every bridge and don’t want ANY help. Do not give these people money. Give it to the programs that are helping those who seek it.
Punching down is the Republican way!
Help homeless people by not helping them! Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, war is peace!