Once I was taken by a man who approached me in the parking lot of a grocery store. He was clean and casually dressed. “Excuse me sir, we have just moved into town and I have run out of gas. My wife and daughter are a block down the street and If you could spare a couple of bucks so we can just get to my mothers house I would be grateful.” He even asked if I would like to go and see his family, so I would know he was being honest. I gave the man 2 dollars and went about my shopping. A week later, same store ,same man, same story. I laughed and said “you got me last week buddy, you need to relocate.”
Years later I stopped at a convience store. An eldery woman was standing there shabilly dressed, with a few meger belongings in assorted bags. As I passed she asked if I had any spare change. Still tainted by previous experience I just ignored her. As I am paying the cashier I think again about this woman. It is 2 days before Christmas and I guess the spirit grabbed me. I stuck a 5 in my shirt pocket and when I passed her again I handed it to her and said “Merry Christmas.” She began to jump up and down, cheering and singing praises. She grabbed me and hugged me tightly and said “God bless you Honey” As I drove away I looked in my rearveiw mirror to see her still cheering and jumping. To this day it is the most appreciated Christmas present I have every given to anyone. And it only cost me 5 bucks.
While I don’t want to generalise about the homeless community, or make assumptions based purely on their lack of a roof over their heads, all I can really do is draw from my personal experiences and act accordingly.
I began working in the city and for the first time started to be confronted by homeless people asking for money while on my way to work. Being aware that I would hate to be in their position, hate to be hungry, hate to have to ask a stranger for a hand-out, bascially hate every aspect of being homeless, and being rather a sympathetic person, I’d give some money whenever asked. I was told that by pulling my wallet out, I was making myself a target, so I tried to do it as stealthily as possible (usually opening my wallet inside my bag) trying to protect myself whilst still giving.
I had a few bad instances, the last one forever changing my donating habits. I was actually afraid for my life, or at least my safety, pinned to a wall, sure that I was going to get beaten up.
So now, I never give anything to any homeless person, regardless of the story they tell. What I do do is make a regular donation to a non-religious shelter. Hopefully, I am feeding more people and giving more people a place to sleep, than I ever did handing out loose change.
That’s just my personal view on the topic, and I don’t expect anybody to necessarily agree with me. I don’t want to be a target, or put myself in danger ever again, but I do want to help those less fotunate than me whenever I can. This is my solution to my personal dilemma, feel free to have your own solution, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, just sharing what I do.