Why does any of this impact whether you give them anything?
Did you just stop reading there?
Why not do both?
Keep reading.
Why are you obsessed with ‘good results’? Why not also do things that just make people feel good for a little while, even if there are no long lasting benefits? Do you always know what is better for the unfortunate?
Never cash.
Socks are really good, as lavenderviolet sez.
Soft junk food.
I’m “obsessed” with good results because I’ve seen them. I’ve also seen plenty of people who would be best served by those results, rather than enabling for another night on the streets. Sure, I could do both - but why would I act directly against those goals I work towards every day?
I never claimed I did. But I do know that many people out there panhandling are lying about their situations, and I have absolutely no desire to see people get fooled by them, or be fooled myself.
Why would giving cash, or cigarettes or booze constitute ‘getting fooled’? I am under no illusion that my efforts will change lives. I had a guy outside a Dunkin’ Donuts in December ask for a hot chocolate, which I bought for him. I doubt he would have appreciated my volunteerism as much as he did the hot chocolate.
If someone lies to you in order to convince you to give them something and you do, you’ve been fooled. That’s kind of the working understanding that everyone in the world has of the word “fooled”. Maybe you’re operating under a different assumption.
Here’s where we differ. You see, I DO have a belief that my efforts will change lives. Do you know how I know that? Because I’ve SEEN my efforts change lives. To suggest that working counter to those efforts doesn’t make any difference just doesn’t add up in my view.
Cool story, bro - here’s mine. In my 6 years working in housing and homeless issues, I’ve helped raise over $40 million in funding for the cause. That’s a lot of hot chocolate.
Not if I know it’s a lie.
Then that lie wasn’t what convinced you, now was it? Hey - if you like giving homeless or panhandlers money or cigarettes or booze or blowjobs, go for it - I said just as much in my first post in this thread. But if you’re looking for the “ideal” thing to give to homeless or panhandlers, then the answer to that question is “nothing - give your time/talent/money to organizations that can maximize their resources and leverage funds/services that can multiply any single thing you’d be handing out several times over”.
So I was not fooled. Right?
This presumes the ‘ideal’ must maximize the resource so as to mitigate homelessness most efficiently, which in my case, is in error.
When I choose to give something to a homeless person (which is less than always), I do it for purely selfish reasons. It makes me feel good.
Seeing as how the OP went out of their way to define “ideal”, I’ll stick with my recommendation.
Since your recommendation is to ignore people who ask for handouts, I don’t see how that is consistent with the OP’s intent, but, whatever floats your boat.
That’s right. After a lifetime of seeing homeless on the streets and hearing their stories, my career of finding tens of millions of dollars for homeless agencies instead of giving out handouts is ignoring them. That’s a great way to describe it. Just because you don’t give in to the immediate visceral selfish (as you describe it) desire to give immediate help rather than give long term sustainable assistance isn’t “ignoring” by any stretch of the imagination.
It is as far as the OP is concerned. He does not want to ignore their immediate requests. He wants to give them something. He thinks it would be nice. He wants to know what he could give them that would make their day a little better. Admonishing him that his intent is misguided hardly addresses the intent of the OP.
sanTho27, San Francisco is pretty much the headquarters for homeless services innovation. Every two months thousands of organizations get together and put on a Homeless Connect event. They’re always looking for volunteers. Spend a few hours, talk to homeless individuals, talk to homeless providers, and see what best fits your desire of giving. Judge for yourself what has the greater impact at an event like that - the meal they get or the services they receive. If you want to fill your backpack up with apples or toothbrushes or handiwipes or rolls of quarters after that, you’ll have all the information you need on what would be the best thing to do.
Most Evil Yuppies are smart enough not to believe a bum who tells them that there is a certain value to a gift card.
I think the gift card route is best…unless of course it’s to some Evil Corporation that is oppressing society.
I’m kind of like Fear Itself.
I’m all for sending in a check to a faceless non-profit. But if someone asks, “Sister, do you have a dime?”, I find it hard to ignore them.
I’m a sometimey change-giver. I don’t have any criterion for who gets what, except that the person not be aggressive and not have ever given me a hard time in the past. It also depends on my mood and whether I have change.
The nature of my urban, long-distance walking brings me in contact with the same driftless people day after day. I nod and say hello to those who speak to me, and smile when they compliment me. It’s not helpful in a tangible sense, but I imagine they spend their whole day being ignored, so why not treat them like people?
There’s one guy who has shared his story with me. He walks long distances like I do, and we’re often going opposite ways. He’s not street homeless, but he does live in a flophouse on government disability. He has shared with me his sad story–a bad car accident a while back that shattered his legs (yet he limps along everywhere to save money), a mental condition (perhaps schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) that requires court-mandated Haldol injections, and extreme, utter loneliness and inner turmoil that makes him turn to the bottle. He’s only ten years older than I am, but he looks about twenty. He has friends, other indigents like himself, but he’s always talking about not having a “girl” and how lonely that makes him. On the very few occasions that he has asked for money, I have given him what I have, with recommendations for what good things to get at the store (he always says “Yes, miss monstro” like I’m a church lady :)). But most times, I just listen to him and try to show empathy (showing is better than feeling). I don’t ever really want to be there; I’d rather go back to my own world and not have to see such raw sadness and tragedy. But he tells me that seeing me brightens up his day, and even cynical ole me can see from the smile on his face that he is telling the truth. And that, in itself, is very sad.
Because I AM cynical, I’m very careful about how close I let this guy get to me. I will never let him know where I live, and though he knows where I work and has come into the building asking about me (fortunately when I wasn’t there), I would never go down and talk to him. But when we cross paths, I do not ignore him. I ask him how he is doing and let him rant and complain about his life as long as I’m able to without being late for work. He always lets me go when I say I have to. I think all he wants is for someone who is not homeless, drunk, and/or crazy to acknowledge him as a real person.
It’s not $40 million, but it’s still something for this one guy.
To the OP, give whatever you feel like giving. If you were homeless, what would you want? In this heat, I’d probably want a bottle of water and some sanitary wipes, for all the sweat and grime. I’ve given groceries to people, or money. Or just a listening ear. Or nothing at all. I don’t care about having a world-resounding impact; even if I donated $500 to a local mission, that would only go so far. I guess you have to ask yourself, do you care about bringing positivity to individuals or to groups? Either way of caring is admirable.
monstro, can I take a minute to tell you that I think you are one of the nicest, most rational people here? I always enjoy your posts.
Munch, I do animal rescue. I give my time and resources to a group so that we can share resources and do the greatest good we can. I understand what you are saying, really I do. I would also like to talk to you about grant writing, I’m trying to learn how to do it effectively, but I do work full time. Anyhow, even though I understand that our focus should be on the greater good for the many, sometimes an animal with a sob story that grabs our hearts. We have spent hundreds of dollars on one hard luck animal that we could have used for our primary goal.
That was my very long winded way of saying that people, individually and collectively, want to see short term results. I’m guessing that many of the people who give things are also donating money to places with long term results.