Do/would you give money to homeless persons/beggars?

[yungerkid]

the difficulty is clearly in distinguishing who is capable of raising themselves out of poverty, and who isn't. obviously those who are capable do not deserve money, and those who aren't do. i think that, not having a reasonable estimate of the percentages of both categories, i would not be willing to take the chance that the one i give to is deserving. if, however, i discovered that many homeless people around my area were deserving, i would start giving out more handouts, and vice versa. @slappy: who are we to determine who gets excess wealth? well, we are the holders of the excess wealth. we should give money to those who are capable of using it effectively, but withhold it from those who are not capable of working for themselves, either because of poor judgment, drug addictions (which are only the fault of poor judgment in the first place), or physical problems (which should be helped by the government, not passersby). does this not seem a reasonable distinction to you? is it not in our place to use reason in whom we give our money to?

so what if entertaining people is the most efficient way to earn money from begging? at least it requires wit. it is only silly to give out money for entertainment if the person is incapable of working.

[Tunco]

I feel guilty whenever I pass by a homeless guy.

It's not your fault, you shouldn't be, there will be always homeless people in world.
-I didn't mention to be negative-

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

A very close friend of mine spent some time being homeless a few years ago. It wasn't anything by choice, either; he was actually without a home, car, income, driver's license, and credit history, and he had as many worldly possessions as can be tossed into a trash bag. He wandered around, begged, slept under bushes, you name it. To top it off, he also had a felony on his record (and had spent some time in prison).
But what this dude did was focus on making friends. He moved up to living in a friend's car and using a friend's mailbox (with his permission, of course). Through the connections he made, he managed to land a job at a bookstore, where he works now. He still doesn't have a home of his own per se, but he's in the process of moving in with his girlfriend (another very close friend of mine), and he's holding down a steady income. He's very smart and he works hard. Just goes to show that those that can, do. Most beggars I meet look more than a little crazy, but I will give a few bucks to one who looks like he might have a future. The rest should punch a cop for free food and shelter.

[Donfuy]

Most beggars I meet look more than a little crazy, but I will give a few bucks to one who looks like he might have a future. The rest should punch a cop for free food and shelter.

While there are some beggars that you can instantly... hum... don't care about them, as you look at them and you can see they'll just take the money and get more drugs, many times is hard to distinguish between beggars that actually try to make a life, and like you said, might have a future, and beggars who just lie and try really hard to make us feel bad.

I'll give an example of a woman that, while I was with my parents at the restaurants zone, having dinner (eating a delicious big tasty, mmm), a woman approached us and asked for money. What did she look? Like any beggar, old dirty clothes and a bad overall aspect, and with a sad face. But she asked for money and then, seeing as my brother had finished the meal, and left over some food, she asked: "Can I have that?". We said yes, and all looked at each others, surprise in our faces, except for me. My father gave her some money (possibly influenced by her act) and she left.
Seeing as we all have finished we got up, and leaved too. But I noticed that while she looked at the food (she was in front of us), she never really bitten it. I then noticed that she was walking rather quickly.
My instant thought was: "She's trying to escape from our vision, and then throw away the food."
I said it to my parents, and they didn't say anything but: "Meh, stop with the crap, didn't you notice she really was hungry?"

What about you guys? Would you believe her?


That said, I don't give money to beggars, and while your story almost made me undecided, that's one example, and I don't think I can generalize.


QUICK EDIT: The ending was made really quickly, like this edit.

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On Sunday, my gran showed me an article in the paper about a local beggar. I'd seen him, given him some change a couple of times.

Turns out he earns £80 a day. Never again.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

On Sunday, my gran showed me an article in the paper about a local beggar. I'd seen him, given him some change a couple of times.

Turns out he earns £80 a day. Never again.

Yeah, in quarters.
Or, y'know, "pence" or whatever the heck you Brits use. I've never bothered to find out how British currency works, with all your pounds, eighthpence, and thripennies. Countries need to switch to raw base-10 credits already. I'm annoyed enough by the stupidly large numbers of names American currency has... pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, Susan B. Anthony dollars, those weird 50-cent coins with the guy who looks like but isn't JFK, the Pocahontas crap...

[a happy song]

Sometimes. If I can spare the change in my pocket, I'll hand it over to make their day better. If I need it, I won't. I also put change into charity boxes, but that's the extent of my donation at the moment.

If it weren't for corruption, I think every paycheck in the country should have a few pounds a month taken from it and at the end of every quarter, the money should be given to a charity. Perhaps each month the populace could vote in some vote for the charity they think needs it the most, perhaps selected from a list compiled by experts? Something like this.

[Atilla]

I've seen several people mention signs. Do beggars actually sit there with signs where you guys come from? The only ones I've encountered are those who actually walk up and demand money. Or perhaps those are muggers who aren't very good at the hitting people bit, I don't know.

Also, at people who say giving straight to beggars is better than giving to charity: it's cheaper to buy in bulk and cook food yourself. If you donate to a soup kitchen, surely they can feed more people with healthier food than if you gave that money to random beggars? I mean, homeless people don't have their own stove, so they kinda have to buy (relatively) expensive take away foods. Soup kitchens often get goods at a considerable discount, and they can buy vegetables by the carton then cook up a nice, healthy meal. Also such places are good because they give the homeless a chance to socialize.

[otters~1]

I've seen several people mention signs. Do beggars actually sit there with signs where you guys come from?

Yeah, In Austin it's mostly people with signs at red lights.

[Topo]

in New York, homeless people are quite common, but beggers not so much.

I for one am worried about the money i gibe to baggers.

[scythe]

If it weren't for corruption, I think every paycheck in the country should have a few pounds a month taken from it and at the end of every quarter, the money should be given to a charity. Perhaps each month the populace could vote in some vote for the charity they think needs it the most, perhaps selected from a list compiled by experts? Something like this.

You mean like a tax?

[Tanner]

[EdoI]

On Sunday, my gran showed me an article in the paper about a local beggar. I'd seen him, given him some change a couple of times.

Turns out he earns £80 a day. Never again.

Many of them earns like that. My gran worked in the post office, she mentioned one beggar coming every day to change similar amounts of money.

[squibbles]

yep. Every year, I save up for an extended period of time, and give it to somebody who needs it. And yes, I know that most hobo's will just go out boozing with it, but I met up with a guy I gave money once, and he got a job after surgury on his back. :D

I made a difference! :)

[fingersonthefrets]

Beggars bloody piss me off. I mean, the ones that sit just sit there, while rather.. silly. are okay. the ones that pressure people into giving em money. ugh. busk! you can do like. anything. make a beat with your hands and knees etc. theres some f**king awesome dude around melbourne who's made a drum kit out of buckets and stuff. it's like. if you make an effort, i will give you money, any effort even if you are singing horribly or can't juggle at all or whatever, sure, you're making some effort. If you go up and ask me, often in a slightly forceful and pressuring way. not a chance.

[SlappyMcGee]

Mmm. This reminds me of an anecdote.

Once I handed a five dollar bill to a beggar spouting some French whom I assumed was asking for money, and he, in turn, handed me a bag of weed and got into his car. It was a nice day.

[faemir]

No, but only because I personally contribute to several schemes in my city that are specifically designed to get these type of people jobs and certainly accommodate them.

I prefer to try to treat the cause rather than just giving them random charity. If these schemes were not in place, I would have a different situation on my hands and i'm honestly not sure what I would do.

[jean-luc]

I rarely give money directly to the homeless. I do, however, contribute generously to Street Roots, a local charity group that does great work to help homeless people get jobs, housing, etc...
They basically 'hire' homeless people to work for them. Their employees go door to door to collect donations every year, produce and sell the Street Roots newspaper (which focuses on art by the homeless), and work on community service projects for other organizations. In exchange they're provided with housing, food, and medical care. As quickly as possible, Street Roots gets them jobs with other organizations, and helps them out as they work up a career, move in to their own housing, etc...
I also donate to the Salvation Army and the Blanchet House, both of which are groups that operate shelters and soup kitchens, but Street Roots is my favorite.
I go out and volunteer in person with Dignity Village, which is an awesome project in the suburbs where they've basically built a small village out of donated materials and they help the homeless get jobs.

[wolfgang]

theres some f**king awesome dude around melbourne who's made a drum kit out of buckets and stuff.

I saw that guy while I was down in Melbourne for the Vfestival, he is awesome.

Anyway, I'll give away the change I'm carrying if I see a busker or beggar. But it's fairly inconsequential amounts.

[Snuggletummy]

Honestly, I would give the homeless shelter if I could. I'm too damned emotional anyway. Hell, I cry when I see a mentally handicapped kid/adult, and I wish I could give them the ability to live an amazing life.

[blackson]

Definatley not. Especially if they approached me. The reason why is that almost every time that money would be spent towards drugs, alchohal, etc.

[Torex]

I always give money to the homeless people I see on the street. It's a good thing that I only see them once every week or so, because it just makes me feel good about myself when I get home from school all pissed off. A lot of people I know don't give money to homeless people because "My parents told me they will spend it on drugs or alcohol." I really don't care if they do this or not. I'd like it if they used the money for food or to try to improve their living conditions, but that's not always the case. They could use the money for drugs and shit, and I'm okay with that. They might be addicted and need drugs or else they would go into withdrawl. They might need the drugs so they can sell them to another party and make money for a better cause. At least the homeless person is putting the money to some use and being grateful.
Also, has anyone else heard of this? About a month ago, I had to watch this video on homeless people at school, and in the video, the head of the Homeless Division of my county or something said never to give money to homeless people, and instead call the "homeless hotline" for our county, because it "encourages the idea that being on the streets is alright.", which I think is bullshit. Does anyone else have opinions on this?

[Donfuy]

I always give money to the homeless people I see on the street. It's a good thing that I only see them once every week or so, because it just makes me feel good about myself when I get home from school all pissed off. A lot of people I know don't give money to homeless people because "My parents told me they will spend it on drugs or alcohol." I really don't care if they do this or not. I'd like it if they used the money for food or to try to improve their living conditions, but that's not always the case. They could use the money for drugs and shit, and I'm okay with that. They might be addicted and need drugs or else they would go into withdrawl. They might need the drugs so they can sell them to another party and make money for a better cause. At least the homeless person is putting the money to some use and being grateful.
Also, has anyone else heard of this? About a month ago, I had to watch this video on homeless people at school, and in the video, the head of the Homeless Division of my county or something said never to give money to homeless people, and instead call the "homeless hotline" for our county, because it "encourages the idea that being on the streets is alright.", which I think is bullshit. Does anyone else have opinions on this?

Of course I agree with what that Homeless Division says. If you give them money, they will think "meh, being on the streets it's not that bad, there are nice persons everywhere who give me money" or "OH YEAH I DO NOTHING AND I LIVE AND DO WHAT THE HECK I WANT" <- to some extent. They're like spoiled children - the more you give, the more they want.


And you don't care if they spend your money in drugs or alcohol? You're encouraging drug traffic.

[origami_alligator]

I only give money if I have coins or can accurately pull out $1 from a wad of cash in my wallet without pulling my wallet out of my pants.

There is a guy in Portland who goes around town impersonating an employee for some cell phone company. He does a whole scheme where you have to do various tasks in exchange for money. Every bet is "double or nothing" and you can't continue on to the next challenge (which become increasingly more difficult for some reason) until you come up with the money.
My friends and I lost $80 (which I fronted them at the time, though I was payed back eventually) to him placing a small piece of foam underneath some 2-liter soda caps and moving it back and forth from one to another. If you were there you'd've seen how immensely well this guy can move foam between bottle caps.

[bigllama99]

I usually don't give money, but offer them food (if I have any), or offer to buy them something.