Does giving money to homeless people help them?

Great Debates
1

By giving money I mean personally handing change to someone on the street, not donating to charity, volunteering, etc.

My friend and I have had this ongoing discussion. He regularly gives money to homeless people who ask on the street, occasionally even giving them a $5 bill (neither of us are wealthy, if that makes any difference). I never do, not because I don’t care about their plight, but I believe giving them money hurts them more than it helps them.

My reasoning is thus: If I give him/her a buck, at best they will use that to get some kind of sustenance. All that does is help them maintain their status quo. I want that person to do something to improve their condition, but if they keep getting handouts, they will never have any motivation to go to shelters, get support from government agencies, etc. Sort of like the whole teach him to be a fisherman rather than give him a fish thing.

He says these people are screwed, nothing will ever get them to get help, so why not be nice and help them get a few kicks.

So my question is: Does giving money to homeless people hurt them more than it helps them?

2

I’m with you on this one. Forking over donations to beggars rewards their behaviour and insures they will not seek out legitimate assistance that is out there. There is no way that I can distinguish between someone in temporary plight and a professional beggar - so I refuse and make my donations to organizations that provide assistance instead.

3

I always give money to homeless people, if I have a small bill (never more than $5 or so, although I’ve given $20 on occasion), and provided they seem to be genuinely needy. Once I saw and old man and woman digging through the garbage at the park, eating any food they found. They were not asking for anything, even though there were plenty of people around. This broke my heart, and I gave them both $20. I don’t know how they spent it and I don’t care. I give money to charity also, but I figure there are some people who will not seek out that type of help for whatever reason. I know they probably spend it on alcohol or drugs, but that doesn’t bother me. Who am I to judge what they do?

4

In other words, if no one ever gave to beggars, (legitimate poor persons or scammers), they would cease to beg and be forced to find other ways to get their money (i.e. getting a job), so giving helps them in the sense that they do not have to find real work. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between those who can work but chose not to, and those that are unable to find work due to mental problems and the like.

5

He only had a dollar to live on 'til next Monday
But he spent it on some comfort for his mind

From Snowblind Friend by Steppenwolf

Yeah you can be pretty sure anything you hand a homeless guy ain’t going toward tuition or mutual funds. Then again, for a person in that condition, a hot meal, a drink of wine, or even another hit of something illegal is about all they have to get through another day. Odds are, they’ll still be homeless tommorrow. But maybe they’ll have a full belly tonight…

6

You mean motivation besides being homeless? :slight_smile:

My answer would be neither. A singular instance of a person giving (or not giving) money to a homeless person doesn’t really change a damn thing. They either get what they were going to get sooner or later depending on the outcome. It won’t affect the situation of the homeless person one bit.

7

Some homeless people in San Francisco and Berkeley put signs out. If their signs amuse me, I usually give them some money.

For a while, there was a homeless person who often sat on the sidewalk near some shops that were close to Mr. Neville’s old apartment. When I saw him, I usually gave him some money.

If I’m in an area of Berkeley or SF where there are homeless people, and I go to a restaurant and can’t finish my food, I’ll get a doggie bag and some plastic utensils and give that to one of the homeless people.

8

I’m starting to feel that way… and I hate it.

I hate hardening my heart against the needy because scammers may be among them. I hate being afraid of beggars who loom suddenly out of the darkness as I’m walking along Bloor Street by the Museum. I hate being apprehensive about whether the beggar is going to be in his usual spot just around the corner of the tunnel into College Park so that you don’t see him until you are committed to going that way.

If I’m not afraid, I can deal with things. There’s one beggar I got to know and talk to on a weekly basis. I listened to his tales of his struggle to find an apartment, and he bacame a person to me.

But there are some beggars… there is one who will work crowded subway cars who has a voice full of crazy desperation that causes a primal urge in me to run. Last week I was in a train that was standing with doors open at Bay station and I heard her voice. I didn’t even see her; I simply leapt out of the car and ran away across the platform and made to go up the stairs, just to get away.

I hate being afraid.

I hate not perceiving enough about people to judge whether I can help them or whether I am in danger.

I found myself considering voting for a mayoral candidate because she promised to ‘sweep the beggars from the streets’. I ended up not voting for her because I disagreed with her stance on certain transit issues.

I hate what this city is doing to me.

I know damn well that using the police to round up beggars would do nothing to solve the problems creating beggars, even if it temporarily cleared the streets and helped everyone else feel better.

A wider solution is called for. I want more than just a police roundup, even though a roundup, if done right, might help some of the beggars themselves, getting them care and rehabilitation to put their lives back together.

But I don’t know what to do. It’s getting to the point where I am considering leaving Toronto permanently.

9

That’s assuming all beggars are addicts. They aren’t.

Some beggars are addicts. I believe some are sincerely in need of food. Others might use their money for rent at a cheap motel or for a shelter (some of which cost money). Others might use the change for transportation.

My wallet was stolen yesterday while I was out in the middle of nowhere. Credit cards, cell phone, cash, ATM card, driver’s license…everything that makes me “civilized” was taken. I’m fortunate that the thieves spared my vehicle, because I don’t know what I would have done without it. No doubt you would have seen me standing on the side of the dusty road, begging for help. And because I had been working out in the marsh, you would have seen someone dressed like a homeless, dirty bum. A bum (and a black one at that!) begging for change on the side of a desolate highway. What a nice picture.

People wave off beggars with sob stories like mine, believing them to be liars just trying to score. But in my case, my tears and need for assistance would have been 100% geniune. My situation made me realize that an instant, you can be reduced to nothing and be completely dependent on the kindness of strangers.

I’ve always been careful who I give money to, but I admit that I regularly give to panhandlers. Maybe I am only enabling, but the bleeding heart in me thinks that if there’s a chance my dollar will go to someone who will use it wisely, then it’s worth it.

Also, I guess I feel that giving a desperate person a dollar decreases their chances–however slight–of one day busting someone’s car window and snatching their wallet.

10

No

11

And to back that up, I invoke the name of B. F. Skinner.

12

I know just how you feel. In fact, just recently I was contacted by a very polite man from Nigeria who, through no fault of his own, has found himself in some dire financial straits and needs me to assist him by providing all my banking information for some sort of wire transfer. Some of my friends have warned me that it might be a scam, but it doesn’t bother me. After all, who am I to judge what other people might do with my money?

13

Wow, that’s a stupid comparison.

14

I never gave money to the homeless. I have not seen any in my new town. I think the people who do give are foolish, and I think panhandling should be a crime. I lived for a year in an area where homeless people were tolerated (almost to the point of encouragement) and I was asked nearly every day. I never saw beggars in bad weather, early morning or very late at night.

I have heard accounts from people online that have begged professionally and done well. My SO once saw a man from our apartment complex walking over to a busy corner, fitting himself with crutches, preparing to beg professionally. I have seen supposed beggars pile into an SUV and drive away from their corner.

15

I’ve heard rumors of these $60k a year “beggars” but assumed it was an urban legend. Anyone got a cite for this one way or the other?

monstro, I was referring more to the begging of the more obvious variety, where it is clearly a homeless person who is clearly sustanance-panhandling, if that term even exists. Situations like you describe are much trickier, because I have to now evaluate the legitimacy of the person giving the story. I have run across this situation once or twice, but no where near the frequency as I do sustanance-panhandlers, so for the purposes of this thread I think we can focus just on those people.

Now this one is interesting. I will give that some thought…
Ultimately though I think spazattak has the answer that I think I was ultimately leaning towards.

16

Actually, I think **Vinyl Turnip’s ** comparison is a good one, assuming we are talking about the type of beggar who makes up a sob story about being stranded with no money for gas to get back to Tutwilla.

17

I think this a valid comparison as well, exaggerated in proportion but valid all the same.

18

Hi, I’m here about the job you advertised in the Times. (I found a copy of the classifieds crumpled up in the alcove of the bus station).

Yeah, all right, fill out this application… ::hands application to homeless person::

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OK, here you go.

Hey, you left telephone number and address blank?!?

Sorry, I’m homeless, I don’t have a telephone or an address you can send mail to or anything. I’ve got email, but I don’t always get a chance to check it every day.

How come you don’t smell like fermented gym socks like the other homeless folks? How come your clothes aren’t stained and crumpled and all? If you don’t mind me asking?

I bummed some change until I had enough to feed the laundromat.

::stares at applicant:: How are you going to get from wherever the heck your holing up to our location here every morning, if I hire you?

Bum some change for the bus or subway. Otherwise I’ll have to sleep around here, I guess.

How are you going to eat for the first two weeks before your first paycheck? The soup kitchens aren’t going to be serving breakfast at 6 AM, sure aren’t any around here you could hit for lunch. You might find some still open after shop closes at 6 though.

I’ll manage. Maybe bum some money and buy up some Ramen noodles and mix them up in the hot-tea water at your coffee corner over there.

All right, I’ll think seriously about giving you a shot. You gotta stay like you are today, though, I can’t have no smelly-ass homeless-looking workers, if you get what I mean.

I got two changes of clothes, I’ll try to pick up some more from Salvation Army and I’ll keep bumming money to feed the laundromat.

19

Hi, good morning. I’m going to try to con you out of some money, OK? I’m homeless, destitute, and sober.

:dubious: Which of those things do you intend on addressing if I give you something?

Depends on what you can afford. You got $900 you can spare, that gets me first months’ plus damage deposit and thanks to you I’m no longer homeless, at least for the next two months.

Destitute is a toughie, I got no skills. I tried the GED but I didn’t pass. I see programs advertised in the subways, study for your GED and then go to technical school. I could get lots of financial aid, but I got nowhere to get mail at for them to send me forms and shit, and they make you pay a registration fee that I don’t have, $25 would pay my registration fee, but then you’d have to let me receive my mail at your address and then you bring it to me when it comes in, OK?

Sober’s easy, though. You can help me fix sober with a lot less. As long as I can’t do much about the other two, I’d rather be outdoors, poor, and drunk, wouldn’t you?

Care to donate?

20

I’m not sure I follow your intent. Are you implying that it’s just too difficult and we shouldn’t expect these people to be able to work, that panhandling is their best option?

If so, obviously you’re not aware that day labor services do exist and pay the employees at the end of each day worked. These are not high skill jobs, but they do pay an honest wage for an honest day’s work.