Getting A Handle On Panhandling
A man approached Phil Smart Jr. one day outside his car dealership on East Pike Street with a smile on his face and an open hand.
He asked for 75 cents to take the bus to West Seattle. Smart gave it to him.
A few feet down the street, the man approached one of Smart's employees with the same line.
It has become a common panhandling scam.
A new program called "Caring Neighbors" is now trying to eliminate scam artists from begging people for money then using it for purposes other than what they say, said the program's project coordinator, Catrina Gregory.
Rather than giving spare change to panhandlers on the street, program organizers suggest giving them vouchers or donation cards redeemable for goods and services.
Vouchers can be purchased at any of 42 participating businesses in the Capitol Hill-First Hill areas, including the Pike/Pine corridor district. They may be redeemed by the homeless at participating businesses for basic needs, such as food, laundry services, bus transportation and personal services. The vouchers are valued at 25 cents each and come in sheets of four.
People can also help the homeless by purchasing $1 donation cards, which are tax-deductible, and the money will go to the Emergency Feeding Program, which provides short-term, nutritionally balanced meals and the Country Doctor Clinic, which offers comprehensive health care.
"I think this program makes it so I don't have to say no the
next time someone asks for money," Smart said.
The four-month trial program here, which began yesterday, is modeled after a program in Berkeley, Calif., believed to be the only similar program of its kind.
It is designed to constructively help the homeless and to reduce aggressive panhandling in Seattle, said Joe Rogel, the Seattle program's co-chair.
Buying vouchers and giving them to the homeless and panhandlers instead of cash assures the money will go toward necessities, and not alcohol or drugs, Rogel said.
Since Berkeley began its program a year ago, that Northern California city has decreased aggressive panhandling by about 40 percent, Rogel said. Panhandlers who only want money have become disenchanted with the city and Rogel hopes the same can be accomplished here.
Seattle's Mayor Norm Rice and City Councilwoman Sue Donaldson have expressed support for the program here. Rice has pledged $5,000 to the program to help offset the costs of printing vouchers and posters to be placed in the windows of participating stores.
However, the program does have some skeptics.
Ray Bava, who has been living on the streets of Seattle for eight years, says he can make about $20 a week panhandling in the Pike Street area.
He fears the vouchers would limit what he can do. Bava said he wouldn't shop at some of the businesses that redeem the vouchers because those businesses are too expensive.
"There are places that charge too much for their items," he said. "Places they should have are Fred Meyer, Safeway and QFC."
Gregory, the project's coordinator, said the program will be evaluated after the four-month trial period.
"It will focus the resources on those who are truly needy," Rice said. "This is a constructive solution to a problem faced by all cities." --------------------------------------------------------------- HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP
VOUCHER PURCHASE SITES:
Bailey-Coy Books, Boren Avenue Antiques, Bulldog News & Fast Expresso, Case & Cole Flowers, Central Co-op Grocery, City People's Mercantile, Frame It Ltd. (on Broadway), The Garden Basket, Geoffrey Shelton CPA, Hadassah, the Seattle Public Library's Henry Branch, Keeg's, La Mediterranean Delicatessen, Maggie's on Madison, Marion Richards Hair Design, Museum Quality Discount Framing, Nature's Elegance Florist & Gifts, Pilgrim Congregational Church, Puget Sound Bank, Puss-Puss Cafe, Reruns, Red & Black Books, Roberta's Bed & Breakfast, Salisbury House, Seattle Central Community College, Seafirst Bank, Shop-Rite, Spangler Insurance, St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Steve's Broadway Newsstore, Tess Inc., That Shop, Tilden and U.S. Bank.
REDEEM VOUCHERS AT:
12th Avenue Maytag Laundry, 7-Eleven stores on Broadway and 15th Avenue, The Bagel-Deli Co., Bartell Drugs on Broadway, the Christian Science Reading Room (will exchange vouchers for bus passes), the Lutheran Compass Center, Cristall Clean/Coin Laundry, Deluxe 1 Bar & Grill, Duds N Suds, Frankfurter restaurant on First Hill, Georgina's Pizzeria, HealthTek Pharmacy & Medical, Rainbow Grocery and Taco Bell restaurant on Broadway East.