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Although I don't live in downtown Ann Arbor,
I've lived near enough to it and in neighborhoods of sufficiently mixed
character to have plenty of contacts with homeless people. When I was a
young adult and frequented downtown in the 1980s, my contact was much more
frequent, and I was often at a loss for how to respond to someone begging
for money for coffee, a sandwich, or bus fare. I was often troubled by
these requests, with thoughts like the following running through my head:
"There, but for the grace of god, go I"
"That one's a drunk. He's just going to use it for booze"
"I made it out. I kept my nose clean. I studied and worked hard.
Serve's 'em right for being a goof off!"
"Ack! I'm too busy. Go away!"
None of this lead to a comfortable resolution. If I gave money, I
felt like I was supporting the petioners dissolution. If I ignored
them, I felt cruel, cold hearted, and Republican. (My ethical and
political roots include a strong dose of Liberal Northern Democrat, annealed
in the flame of German Protestant Republican smugness.)
I've even been scammed. I recall a woman who rang my apartment door
(when I was living on the Old Near West Side) and begged and pleaded
for $20 for bus fare. I don't recall the exact reason, I
think it had to do with some relatives on the west - Pacific, not Michigan -
coast. I was feeling generous that evening, so she got her $20.
A year later, she tried again. Either she forgot she hit me up, or didn't
expect an apartment dweller to stay in the same spot so long, or she thought
I was an easy mark. She had to find someone else that night. A few years
later, when I had moved to the near south-east side, she tried again. The
story was always similar.
Now, my wife is both more generous, more skeptical, and smarter than I am.
Her solution is multi-faceted, and works well:
Don't give money to beggars
Any concerns you have that money will go for booze are legitimate. Try
to address their (claimed) need. Offer to supply food (or a non-alchoholic
beverage) if you can. Direct them to
support agency for other needs, like support for medical services
or travel arrangements.
For instance:
When directly approached (at home)
If the supplicant is asking for money for food, offer sustenance.
I.e.: offer fruit, a sandwich, a cup of coffee or tea (if you have
such handy.) Most give you a look of horror (that they've been
found out) and slink away. The truely needy will accept the food,
and you can direct them to one of the
shelters.
When directly approached (downtown)
If the supplicant is asking for money for food, offer to buy them
a bagel, brownie, sandwich, etc. from one of the nearby cafe's,
resturaunts, or stores. As above, most give you a look of
horror (see above) and slink away. The truely needy
will accept the food, and you can direct them to one of the
shelters.
Above all, be carefull when directly approached!
Too many of them are homeless or begging because they're so messed
up that they aren't rational, coherent, or otherwise sane.
Make sure you have backup
The police will tell you to leave homeless people alone and call the police
(911 if you have a classic land-line, you're probably out
of luck if you're using VOIP.)
Call the police if they're acting weird. If you feel uncomfortable
about their behavior, get a professional involved. In
Ann Arbor, the police aren't jack-booted thugs. They're familiar
with (if not pleased to) dealing with drunk students and foot-ball fans.
At least, have someone else nearby who can call the police if things
go terribly wrong. Being 6 feet tall is only good for
convincing yourself that you can handle things you really oughtn't
to attempt.
Donate to a local charity (salve your conscience)
Your conscience is easier when you know you've donated to
a local charity that assists the homeless. This also makes it easier to
direct the homeless to one of the local support agencies. Also, donations
can be relatively easy and tax-deductible. Michigan personal income
taxes allow for certain donations to come directly off of your tax
liability (at a 50% rate). I believe that Federal income
taxes have a minimum threshold, but if you're already filing
Schedule A, then this is easy.
(Deductible) donations can be in cash or in material. Of course,
donating your time is great too, but sometimes time is more precious
than money or packaged food.
Donations in cash are pretty easy and often easy to document for tax
purposes. Unfortunately, often it seems as if most of the value of your
donation goes into sending your appeals for more money. Worse, this is
a good way to get appeals for support from more charities than you ever
thought existed. Still, you can receive only so much junk mail in your
U.S. postal mail box, and it's easier (and safer) to identify and dispose
of than spam e-mail, or
those incessant credit card offers (which you do shred, don't you?)
Donations in material are (of course) harder to do. You actually have
to collect stuff together (no junk or garbage please). If you want
to deduct the donation from your taxes (it is worth it, if you can),
you should make a list with estimated values (if there aren't price
tags on these things anymore). And, you have to haul the stuff to whatever
place they have for receiving this stuff. It's not as easy, but as
an example of applied civics, it's
a very good thing to do, and a lot more emotionally satisfying than
calling in a donation with your credit card.
Donations in material, if large (like an old car) do require more
careful paperwork. (And don't donate your car if it can't move under
it's own power. This is not a way to dispose of junk!)
Vote
Be part of your civic community. Vote. Your government is more than
a neigborhood association, interested only in making everything
look nice. (At least if you live in a blue
state area...) Also, the larger a government is, the less likely it
is to go off on half-baked proposals that will limit your freedoms or
cost you money — so long as it has to balance it's budget.
(The current Repubican dominated Federal government is shameful...)
True, the Ann Arbor City Council is nearly all Democrat (about to become
entirely Democrat), which I find as undemocratic as the elected Federal
government, but aside from wasting their time occasionally, they can't
do too much harm since they have to balance their budget.
But aside from that, when you vote, you pay attention to what's going on.
You read the local paper. You listen to
real local radio (WEMU 89.1FM) (not some Clear Channel
pablum.) You discover that there are things you can influence, besides
all the things you can't or won't.
And, you'll discover that government is made up of people who care.
People who usually try their best. People who sometimes make mistakes
and will admit and try to correct it. And sometimes, people who make
mistakes, get careless, and have to leave office.
So, Register and Vote. Not registering to vote won't
protect you from jury duty anymore. Your driver's license is your
entry point to jury duty these days.
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