Helping the poor

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Isn't it the sort of thing we all think we should do? There's a big spiel about it in my religion's holy book. Most other religions talk about social justice and charity one way or another.

In my city, we're going through an explosion of panhandlers. The following is an excerpt from a column by one of our local celebrities, Yukon Jack. I wanted to share:

I'm willing to give money to the Salvation Army, Cancer Foundation, and Habitat for humanity, as well as other reputable charities. I'm with Jack in saying I'm not gonna give it to some guy on the street who is very likely lying to me.

Any thoughts? Has the global economic downturn resulted in more beggars where you guys live?

 

Help the poor with compulsory sterilization?

 

Houston has a ton of homeless people, more so than many major cities in the US. This is largely due to the relatively nice weather we have year-round. No one freezes to death here. People get heat stroke in the summer, but it's a lot easier to find shade in when it's hot than it is to find heat when it's below freezing. We also adopted a fresh crop of homeless folk after Katrina...people who were evacuated here and just, well...stayed.

I too want to help the homeless, but I give my money and time to local outreach missions. It's true - you don't know where the money's going and, as much as I think the guy who wrote the above article is a cynical jerk, he's right - bums are liars. I'm sure 1 in several dozen bums is actually telling the truth when he says he just needs "a few bucks to feed my kids some dinner," but it's almost a certainty that he has no kids and he'll use that money to worsen his situation through drugs or drink, so to me it just isn't worth it - especially when there are so many places a homeless person can go to for help, especially in a city like Houston. All a homeless person needs to do is wave down a police officer and ask where they can go to get help to get back on their feet.

IF that is what they want. Since I would venture all bums are aware of this, and most choose not to (the non-crazy ones anyway), I'd say they choose the life they lead. If I'm going to give my money to aid the homeless, I want to make sure it's going to the ones who actually want to help themselves. And those people go to shelters and outreach missions.

 

I prefer to "help" by supporting socialistic political parties. As was stated in the quote most homeless people are liars, addicts and generally all round jerks. I do not want to help them on an individual basis but I do think we should aim for a society where even those people are taken care of at least in the most basic ways.

 

We too have lots of places and shelters that the homeless can access should they so desire. The thing is, those shelters have "unreasonable" rules. Rules like "you can't bring alcohol or illegal drugs into this facility", "if you try to stab someone you can't stay" and "no defecating on the floor" and other such "nonsense". I've spoken to some street people and they flat our say that they are not willing to stay in a place that "infringes on their freedoms."

Addiction is addiction but that's effing ridiculous. If you are not willing to follow some basic laws of civility, rules aimed at keeping everyone safe and healthy, then you deserve whatever you get. People need to be helped, sure, but there comes a point when it is totally fair for society to have some expectations in return for that help.

I've often thought that some tough love on addicts would be ideal - -round them up and put them in a medical facility with counselors and medication -- but secure them so they can't get out -- 1/2 prison, 1/2 rehab. Make them stay until they are cured. If after society has done this and released them for a second chance into society, and they relapse, thereby spitting on the efforts of the society, then lock them away in that facility for good -- no third chances for those who obviously have no respect for society.

 

I know that in the northwest US (where I'm from) some of the larger cities have terrible homeless problems. Some of this is due to the bums being sent to those cities (mostly Seattle, Portland, and Spokane for further inland) because they can handle them, and help. Oftentimes though, the homeless don't turn to that help.

Over at UW in Seattle it has apparently become popular to hand bums your McDonald's bag, as at least that is "food." I think that if I was talking to a homeless guy for a bit I might be willing to give him some money for food if I felt he was trustworthy.

Overall though, yes, time and money towards shelters really are the best way to help them.

 

Yes, this can be a problem. Most shelters are run either by churches or religious organizations. The one I support is one such organization, and though I support them mainly due to personal connection (I'm close friends with some of their executives and major boosters), they happen to run a particularly effective organization. The thing I don't like, though, is that they are an almost militantly evangelical operation.

You are welcome to come in, clean up, get something to eat, receive job training, etc. - but if you do, you will accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior. Period. I've asked before in casual conversation "well, what if a Jew or an Atheist comes asking for help?" I never really get a straight answer, but basically they still help those people, but those unwilling to "get with the program" aren't encouraged to stay long, basically saying that if they aren't willing to commit themselves to Jesus, they aren't ready to succeed. They tell me this occurs so rarely that it's never been much of a problem, though. This would normally bother me, but it's all volunteer and I'd like people in dire straights to get their sh*t together any way they can, and if that means with a bible in their hand and a scripture on their tongue - whatever, it's better than staying on the street, especially if they have kids (and many of them do).

 

See, THAT I find disturbing. Help should be for those who behave by civilized rules. It should not be based on religious "conversion". My examples were sardonic in that obviously those rules were not "unreasonable."

 

I never see homeless people in my city anymore, and not because there are none, but rather it is that I no longer live in the CBD. However, when I was living in the CBD I used to see a lot of homeless people, always hitting people up for money so they could buy alcohol, cigarettes, or solvents. Back in those days it appeared most homeless people were alcoholics and huffers, not crackheads. They used to gather in a square on the 'bad' side of town, which is where I used to live, so I had to walk past them to go into the centre centre of town. I also had to walk past the prostitutes if it was at night, as they gathered in roughly the same area. This being said, not once did I ever give my money to them, nor would I have. I dont give money to social charities, only environmental ones. Social improvement should be the responsibility of the person in need of social improvement, and I dont agree anymore with socialist government policies, I think more often that educating the 'poor' people on how to improve their lives does more than just giving them money so they can remain trapped in an endless cycle of poverty.

 

There's a lot of people in a town called Stockton-on-Tees (about 6 miles away from where I live) that are always saying 'Can I have 20p for a cup of tea and a sandwich' but they're so high that they don't realise that everyone knows what they're up to. My favourite response is 'hang on, I'll get some friends, if you can get a cuppa and a sarnie for 20p then we'll all get one!'
This generally confuses the smack-heads until they fall over.
Stockton actually has more smack-heads per square mile than London does.

I donate to charity every month and do volunteer work when I can but I won't give to people in the streets unless they're selling The Big Issue which is quite a good read

 

Help the pooor?

Ebenezer Scrooge said it best:

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"


My wife is a sap for people in ragity clothes holding a sign. A few weeks ago, we some a lady standing next to the freeway off ramp, and decided to give her a $20 bill. When the lady came over to the car and saw what Jessica was offering, she said, "Oh my gosh! That's a lot!" Looking at the lady's face, all I could think of was, "Yeah, a lot of meth..." Poor hygiene doesn't cause mouth decay and facial sores like she had - meth does. It really irritated me that Jessica is such a pushover, and she refuses to stop giving to bums.


That being said, I don't mind giving to a worthy cause, because I know my money will be used well...what grinds my gears is giving away money to a random drug addict/alcoholic standing on the corner with a sign...

 

Wow, a lot of hate for the homeless here

I give to charities when I can and don't carry around money with me and don't give to beggars. Though I am a slow moving target whenever I go through town, especially if I'm in my wheelchair or on crutches and am on my own. A couple of them can be incredibly militant and it is quite intimidating when you're cornered on your own.

 

There's an old(er) show called Sports Night. It's a wonderfully fun comedy about the running and day-to-day life of a sports show. I remember one particular episode that rumminates on the poor for a while (central theme of the episode), and there's one particular bit I like:
Casey and Dan are the writers and anchors of the show, the typical-ish manly-men. Casey has recently had a close encounter with a homeless man who made him question the whole issue of the poor.
Isaac is the wise, elderly, black executive producer, the guy who loved through race-riots and has seen everything, etc. Casey finally comes to ask Isaac what he does.

Isaac:"If I see a homeless man on the street, I reach into my pocket and give him whatever change I find."
Casey:"But aren't you afraid they'll spend it on booze or drugs or something?"
Isaac:"On the contrary, I hope they do! The truth is, most homeless people aren't just one hot meal away from turning their lives around. They're at the end of their ropes. If I can give them something that'll make their last days on earth a little less hellish, then so be it."

Now, I'm not sure I agree with the sentament, but it is an interesting perspective, and he does have a point. As has been stated, the vast majority of your homeless are addicts and/or severely mentally unstable. They aren't going to turn their lives around with $5, and those that could probably will whether you give it to them or to a charity. With that in mind, what do you do?

 

Good point. However, why should we give money that we've worked hard for so that other people can go spend it on crack? I'd rather just set fire to the cash! That's where donating to shelters and charities is the better idea. You know that the money is going towards giving someone a place to sleep or food or whatever. It's not going to some dealer who doesn't give a crap about what s/he's doing to the people he deals to

 

Show up. That's all you can do.

The president of the organization I support and I had this conversation after seeing "The Soloist" with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx (excellent flick, check it out). And she asked me what I thought of the movie, and I told her that it made me realize that if you want to help a homeless person, you can't expect to "save" them, because you never will. Only if they're desperate to change their situation will they have a chance to turn things around, and few have the willpower or potential to do that. The best you can do for them is to be there and let them know you care. She looked at me, smiled, and said "bingo." That's why she was so happy that movie came out, because it illuminated an aspect of the homeless problem that took her years to figure out through trial and error.

A very sober, platitude-free assessment from a woman who's dedicated her life to helping the homeless.

Here's a question: how do you guys handle pan-handlers? Do you simply ignore them? Do you wave them off? Do you give them your change? Tell them to get away from your car?

 

Silvery, with that in mind, you have to wonder what they are doing with the little cash they get from others. I realise the whole "aid is aid, it pools and doesn't matter how it gets there" arguement works better for organizations or people with some non-zero amount of wealth, it still applies to some degree here. Every meal you give them is a meal they don't have to get some other way, with means time and money they can spend on drugs instead.

Ultimately, helping the bulk of the homeless means throwing time and money into a hopeless cause. With that in mind, do you give up? Do you continue for the few you can help? Do you continue just to help those who are beyond hope?

 

I don't think you should give up at all. Where there's life there's hope.

However, I've been a drug addict and I've begged on the streets for money (I have an 'unsavoury' past) and when the choice came to eating or getting another hit, I opted for the hit. That's why I won't give to people on the street. I've been there, I KNOW what the money is going to be spent on

 

Silvery, we are paying for that hit whether we want to or not. How many of these people have jobs of their own? How many even turn in cans and stuff? The addict will get his hit one way or another and it will be we who pays. This is why I support government run "charities", care facilities and rehabs paid with tax money. Heck, I would probably even support government sponsored drugs like a recent very succesful trial in Denmark. These people is going to cost you no matter what, if you abandon them they will cost you by begging, by breaking into your car or mugging you on the street. Better they cost us in a way where we have some kind of control of how to spend the resources. I am a firm believer that ignoring these people and dumping over the responsibility to private charities is costing society a lot more than it would if we fed and sheltered them and yes perhaps even to some extent kept them high.

 

How do you think McDonald's turns a profit?