NEWS FEATURE: What to Do When a Panhandler Asks for Change? Experts Disagree

c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The moment takes you by surprise: the sound of coins shaken in a cup, followed by the plea, “Can you spare some change?” During one of the most prosperous times in the nation’s history, with unemployment at a 30-year low and many companies desperate to hire workers, the outstretched […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The moment takes you by surprise: the sound of coins shaken in a cup, followed by the plea, “Can you spare some change?”

During one of the most prosperous times in the nation’s history, with unemployment at a 30-year low and many companies desperate to hire workers, the outstretched hands of beggars provide visible reminders that some Americans aren’t riding the big wave of the new economy.


From San Francisco to New York, cities have passed laws and toughened policies to get panhandlers out of public places, if not society’s consciousness. Yet begging continues, nearly always evoking a personal response, ranging from recoil to giving.

Is there a right thing to do? Even experts in ethics, homelessness and poverty disagree on the proper course of action.

“It depends on my mood,” said Kim Hopper, co-founder of both the New York Coalition for the Homeless and the National Coalition for the Homeless. “I’m afraid that’s not a very principled stand. If I know the people, I’ll respond with some money. But if I’m just hitting a new town and get deluged by panhandlers while I’m trying to find my way, my irked response will be, `I’m out of change right now.’

“I guess you could call it a quandary.”

It torments public relations consultant Kristen Spargo every time she meets a panhandler, and recently when she encountered David Frost seated on a downtown Washington sidewalk with his back against a row of newspaper machines. Frost held a sign: “Homeless. Please Help. God bless all. Every little bit helps.”

Spargo, walking past, didn’t stop.

“I’m a socially minded community person and I struggle with this issue,” she said. “I’ve thought a lot about it, and I usually walk right on by and feel guilty. I think about the Phil Collins song (`Another Day in Paradise’) about the homeless woman in the street with no shoes on her feet and people pretending they don’t see her. …

“I guess my rationalization is that there are organizations out there that people can use, there are resources in which people can get help. You can pull yourself up by the bootstraps.”

The homeless have been much studied, but not so panhandlers, who aren’t always homeless, said Dennis Culhane, an associate professor of social work at the University of Pennsylvania.


“But trust me on this,” said Culhane, who has done research for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “There is still a considerable amount of people whose only route to get money is begging.”

They include the unemployable no longer receiving government checks because of welfare reform, the physically and mentally disabled trying to stay under strict income limits in order to qualify for federal aid, and ex-convicts who just finished prison terms but haven’t been trained in how to join the work force, Culhane said.

Culhane doesn’t usually give cash to panhandlers but has a clear conscience because “I can say I’m spending my life on this issue.” He urges people bothered by panhandlers to pressure their politicians to start government programs that would eliminate the need to beg.

Bob Cote, founder of Denver’s Step 13 shelter, doesn’t give to panhandlers either, for a different reason. Cote sees individual irresponsibility as the real culprit.

A former panhandler himself, Cote says most beggars are lying drunks or addicts like he used to be. A foolishly sympathetic society enables their addictions by refusing to make them accountable for their choices, he said.

“Do you think they’re going to straighten up their lives?” he asked. “They’re just going to go out and panhandle enough to buy another drink.”


Cote came up with the idea of printing coupons for a meal at his shelter of Beanie Weenies, apple sauce and a fruit drink. His board of directors was reluctant to go along, fearing a deluge of people.

That was 11 years ago. Cote said he has distributed more than 100,000 coupons at churches and civic organizations throughout the Denver area. Only 32 beggars have redeemed them, he said, and two threw the food down in disgust when they saw what it was. None enrolled in Cote’s tough-love program, which requires people to get sober, get a job and pay a low rent at the shelter.

Beggars create discomfort because they challenge our fundamental values, said Aaron Kipnis, 51, a psychologist and author.

“We have to either say, `There’s something I have to do’ or `There’s something the matter with these people and it’s their problem,”’ said Kipnis, 51, who works in Carpinteria, Calif.

Kipnis begged on the streets of San Francisco from ages 14 to 17 between stints in juvenile institutions and foster homes. His wife gives money to panhandlers, he said, but he rarely does out of concern they _ as he did _ might spend it on drugs. But Kipnis tries to establish eye contact and conversation.

“When I was on the street, there was this sense of worthlessness projected toward me by people who were well-dressed and clean and obviously had places to go,” said Kipnis, whose book, “Angry Young Men: How Parents, Teachers and Counselors Can Help `Bad Boys’ Become Good Men,” was published last year by Jossey-Bass.


“I don’t remember anyone ever asking me, `Why are you on the street and how can I help?’ Not once.”

That was then, the 1960s. This is now, when unemployment has dipped below 4 percent nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In some major cities, it’s even lower.

No one knows how much panhandlers make on average nationally, but researcher Culhane said he suspects the numbers vary widely by skill, location and other factors.

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When the weather is pleasant and people are on the streets of Washington, Mark Wade said he can make up to $20 an hour. An average week brings in around $300, with lows of $100 or less in the winter and highs of more than $500 in the summer.

Wade relies on humor. He has learned to target tourists by saying “show me the money” in French and Arabic. He switches spots according to the time of day, and makes his best money when he targets college students outside night clubs on weekends.

On weekdays from noon to 3 p.m., Wade sits on a crate near a bridge linking the upscale neighborhoods of Foggy Bottom and Georgetown. Lately he’s held a broken umbrella handle like a fishing rod, dangling a donation pail from blue yarn.


Wade brings out pumpkin and Santa Claus pails for Halloween and Christmas and is searching for something red, white and blue for July. A flashing red light worked wonders before police took it away, accusing him, he said, of aggressive panhandling.

He’s held clerical jobs and would like to work, he said. But he sleeps at shelters, which don’t allow him to remain during the day, making it difficult for prospective employers to contact him.

On a recent weekday afternoon, most pedestrians smiled, but didn’t give, as Wade entertained them with myriad sounds: “beep-beep,” “yoo-hoo” and “OK, I’m ready.” He delivered rhymes in a rap-like cadence: “The best nation is a donation” and “The best city is generosity.”

Brooke Sylvester, a Howard University student, dropped a dollar into his pail as a reward for making her laugh.

“Who am I to decide what they do with their money?” Sylvester asked, adding that she was raised in a Christian household and taught to give to those in need.

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Nearly every religion advocates charity in general, but disputes arise regarding beggars. Judaism emphasizes “Tzedakah” (righteousness) and “Gemilut Hasadim” (bestowing kindness). Christianity stresses a responsibility to help the poor, with Christ saying “give to the one who asks you” in Matthew 5:42.


Muslims take guidance from the account of Mohammed telling beggars to cut wood and sell it in the market instead of asking for money, said Anwar Hajjaj, professor of Islamic studies at The American Open University, an Islamic school in a Washington suburb. “Islam promotes work and fights those who choose to rely on others,” Hajjaj said. In his view, persistent panhandlers should be jailed.

Robert Thurman, professor of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University in New York City and a prominent scholar, said Buddhism leaves much room for personal interpretation. Thurman said he tries to give without a trace of irritation.

“The old argument that you shouldn’t give to one because you can’t give to everyone is not very good for your karma,” he said. “After all, everyone isn’t asking you. There’s just one poor guy there in front of you.”

DEA END O’KEEFE

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