Panhandling: Changing Your Downtown’s Culture of Giving

It's all about balance 

 Managing panhandling and panhandlers means balancing an individual's free speech rights with a municipality's right to give its citizens unobstructed passage to and from their destinations.  While U.S. courts have determined that panhandling is a form of free speech and constitutionally protected, local governments are allowed to place time, place and manner restrictions on panhandling. 

There's a difference between panhandling and aggressive panhandling, for which there are no protections. U.S. cities have ordinances in place to protect its citizens from aggressive panhandling -- which includes intimidating behavior (profane, abusive, violent or threatening language or gestures), blocking a person’s free passage, touching or following them, and panhandling while intoxicated.

Knowing who is panhandling and why

Poverty, lack of affordable housing, substance abuse and the cyclical nature of mental illness all contribute to the presence of panhandling.  Our downtown's very engaged Street Outreach Team and our police department, coupled with our city’s small population, means we have the benefit of knowing the names and current circumstances of our panhandlers—which can be off-putting to new panhandlers who come into our downtown. It’s difficult to remain anonymous!

The Street Outreach Team gives all new panhandlers a two-sided information card with an Aggressive Begging, Panhandling and Solicitation Ordinance (21-8), plus information on shelter, food and services.  Our smallness also gives us a leg up in our efforts to connect panhandlers with services.  Surprisingly, the majority of panhandlers in our downtown are not homeless.  

A day in the life

 

On any day, there can be as few as five and as many as 15 panhandlers working in our Downtown Business District, primarily on or around the Church Street Marketplace. Some make as little as $5, while others can make $80 to $100 on a good day. Like all cities, we have specific types of panhandlers:  Our “lifestyle” panhandlers do it for money and for the social interaction with friends and strangers.  Our “basic need” panhandlers might need money for food, a motel room that night, or it’s the middle of the month and they’re out of money. Our “service resistant” panhandlers are generally not interested in working and have settled on panhandling as a way to make money.  And, some panhandle because they need money for alcohol, substances and nicotine.

A few of our more seasoned panhandlers tell us successful panhandling requires skill, patience, persistence and knowing the best locations, the best time of day to work, and how to maximize donations. Unlike a regular job, earnings won’t be consistent, and there will be good days and bad days. This is a day to day existence; unfortunately very few of our panhandlers will seek support from our Street Outreach team, and focus on short term goals for treatment, housing and regular pay checks.  

Our regular panhandlers don’t like aggressive panhandlers, as they hinder their business and bring scrutiny on them. Our panhandlers are generally well behaved and within their rights when they quietly panhandle for money. The problem arises when their daily frustrations are played out in public, when they’re victimized by others, or when they are joined by others who have less respect for the community.  Aggressive panhandlers can very quickly create fear and disorder, especially when they're openly victimizing each other or intimidating or threatening people around them.  Their behaviors can drive people away from an area, which in turn makes it less safe, and violence and vandalism escalate.  There should be zero tolerance for aggressive panhandling -- residents, employees, students and visitors all deserve better. Municipalities are wise to employ ordinances that prohibit it.
 

Changing the Culture of Giving

Rather than focus energies entirely on regulating panhandling, many U.S. downtowns are changing the culture of giving by encouraging residents, employees, customers, students, and visitors to give directly to non-profit agencies.  The rationale: when you give to a panhandler, you don’t know where the money is going.  When you give to a reputable non-profit serving those most in need, you can be assured your donation is a meaningful act of charity.  Check out Seattle's successful "Have a Heart, Give Smart" campaign, launched in 2007 by the Downtown Seattle Association/Metropolitan Improvement District and now being used in cities like Rideau, Edmonton, Boise and Ann Arbor.  The campaign's message is smart and direct, and the creative sharp.  Contact the Downtown Seattle Association about gaining permission to use campaign collateral (graphics, copy, slogan).
U.S. cities, including Burlington, are also forging partnerships with local homeless shelters and social service agencies to collect funds on the street.  Repurposed parking meters and collection boxes have been popping up in downtowns, where people can deposit change to support programs that assist the homeless and others in need.



The “Denver’s Road Home” project with Mile High United Way, generates in excess of $100,000 annually through sponsorships and donations to its 86 downtown parking meters. Downtown Nashville’s Adopt-A-Meter program features 26 blue donation meters in high-foot-traffic areas and offers one-year sponsorships for $1,000 per meter.

Santa Monica's "Dolphin Change Program"

Santa Monica's “Dolphin Change Program,” takes a different approach, using sculpted bronze and aluminum cast dolphins on the Third Street Promenade and elsewhere as collection boxes for donations to end street homelessness.  Inspired by Santa Monica, we built two collection boxes fashioned after Champ, the mythical monster of Lake Champlain.  Our "Champ," and sister "Champette" collection boxes have already raised thousands for the Committee On Temporary Shelter.

Church Street's "Champ"



Church Street's "Champette"















How communities address panhandling can be a reflection of its culture, values and priorities, the capacity of social service agencies, level of community tolerance, and the degree of trust and collaboration that exists between a downtown's public, private and non-profit sectors. When a community's social bonds and social networks are strong, people are less apt to panhandle. 

The Center for Problem Oriented Policing's Panhandling Guide is an excellent resource for analyzing your community's panhandling problem and how to address it comprehensively.  And, although it was published in 1993, "A Guide to Regulating Panhandling," a handbook produced the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation is still a very thoughtful and useful guide when developing policy and strategies to address panhandling.