Spare change doesn't help these 'beggars'
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When a college girlfriend was falling in love with the man she would soon marry, she rhapsodized one day over his street smarts: "Instead of giving money to this homeless guy, Greg led him into McDonald's and bought him breakfast!"
It was the 1980s in Washington, D.C., and homelessness was a newly discovered social problem -- some of it a result of the 1970s-era de-institutionalization of the mentally ill and some due to a decade's economic turmoil.
It was also the first time that I -- fresh from my sheltered suburban life -- had needed to think about such things. Current circumstances are forcing me to think about them anew.
But rather than the thoughtful college exchange of almost 30 years ago, please imagine me nearly shouting right now when I say, "Dear fellow Pittsburghers, stop giving to beggars!"
The Downtown Ministerium puts it more graciously, of course. "While giving money to a person on the street may seem like a helpful gesture, it may do more harm than good." That's the opening line of an advertising campaign launched six years ago and still sprinkled around Downtown.
A partnership of several city churches, the Ministerium works with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the Pittsburgh police to discourage people from contributing directly to "street solicitations."
Their appeal, which I spotted in the Oliver Street garage, ends with a terrific slogan: "Put your change where you can make one."
As a city dweller I'd bluntly add, "Because the change you're financing right now is destructive."
Those men with the little cardboard signs standing at busy intersections, begging for donations from you idling commuters? They're not all homeless. Some are part of a sophisticated operation.
Not all of them are, of course, but at least half a dozen guys have joined in some kind of network, and it doesn't appear to be only about shaking down softhearted commuters.
I and other North Siders have spent many hours over many months casually observing their activities. Our daily obligations simply take us past the same men over and over again.
They rotate among intersections on East Street and Madison Avenue -- access points for I-279 -- but I've also seen one of them working a backed-up on-ramp for the Fort Duquesne Bridge during the afternoon rush.
They spell each other breaks and hand things off to each other as they trade positions. They step away from their highly visible posts to use cell phones.
First Published October 17, 2011 12:00 am
