Loading ...DON’T GIVE, IT HURTS
I told you guys a while back the city was looking to crackdown on panhandlers, one of which was to make them pay a registration fee. As someone who spends most of his time in downtown Indianapolis I can tell you the downtown panhandlers are a big pain. There are a couple who actually have talent and I don’t mind giving them change, but the rest need to go.
They are a nusiance and potentially dangerous under the wrong set of circumstances.
I argue they would all go away if people would just stop giving them money. Just like stray cats and dogs, they will only stick around if you feed them. If people would simply stop giving to the panhandlers, the panhandlers would go away.
I am not talking about not contributing to the homeless. Homeless and panhandlers are two completely different creatures. I encourage everyone to give to charities that help the homeless, but giving money to panhandlers only creates more panhandlers.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:27 am
Amen Abdul…. and while we give to charities that help the homeless let us not forget that the contributing factors of homeless people in many instances are centered on several areas, mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. and give to organizations that help in those areas as well. However, educating and seeing a new America that recognizes these problems, addresses them appropriately and finds a “cure” if you will, is the most important objective we can attain out of controlling the panhandler problem. Drinking busts at Castleton Restaurant, Starbucks Armed Robberies, etc. are all problems as well that we need to “cure”.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:45 am
For those who find the less fortunate an eyesore and an embarrassment to our common sensibilities, perhaps they remind us of our prideful selves too busy to play good samaritan. Did you give them a lift to the city mission? Did you drop a dollar along with a note with the address and phone number of the closest shelter or church and put it into the cup?
Did you offer to help in any way? What have you done to help relieve the burden of hopelessness?
Our behavior of avoidance and negligence says more about our callous attitude than about the needs of the poor. Perhaps a little New Testament teaching would instill a better attitude for those too occupied in avoiding eye contact with those less priviledged. Blessed are the poor, for theirs in the Kingdom of God.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:00 am
Have you ever seen a skinny homeless person?
The average homeless person can have 7 or so full meals a day especially on the the weekends when the church groups come to them and and feed them at the downtown parks which causes a serious rodent infestation issue because of the disgarded food and trash left there.
The panhandlers are quite well off. I have seen some talking on cell phones while listening to their boom boxes for hours.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am
This problem has developed to what it is because Evan Bayh and the Liberal Left closed Muscatatuck and Central State Hospital for the insane. Now the insane have been placed in more expensive group homes, where they can walk-away at leisure, eat garbage, abuse drugs/alcohol, and panhandle on the exit ramps, medians, and downtown area. If we had the facility for them, they would not spread disease, be clean, fed, and able to live to their potential. The Liberal Left & Evan Bayh created this problem.
Abdul is right: If they did not get anything from panhandling, they would go away. To those of you who give to the bums, please stop. You are part of the problem.
I think the answer is to re-open Central State Hospital and offer the mental health services and developmental services in a clean environment.
April 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Abdul, right on. You need to tell the Star Editorial Board there is a difference between “panhandler” and “homeless” as well. They seem to have forgotten a dictionary when writing their latest piece. Some may be homeless, but not all are.
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You are also correct on your notion if you feed them, they will keep coming back for more… and bring their friends. If you look back at Indy, as little as 3 years ago, this wasn’t nearly as bad as it is now.
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Other Midwest cities I have seen that are worse than Indy are Dayton(OH) and Cincinnati.
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Glad to see we are finally putting some effort into stopping this with the new administration in place.
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Now if only we can get all those birds to stop s*%&ing on the sidewalks, we’ll be in good shape.
April 1st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
There we go beating up the liberal left again. Put the blame where it belongs on Evan Bayh not the liberal left. Liberal is not a nasty word, it is not a socialist movement intent on the destruction of the United States. Blame the individual for the problem. Yes Evan is the person that made those decisions, please vote him out next election. I will help you too.. Find us anyone but Evan and pleaes pray that if Hillary wins she will dispell any notion of Evan being VP.
April 1st, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Well, there goes Paul trying to spin it as “less fortunate”. Got a tidbit of news for ya……most of the panhandlers are there by their own FREE WILL and CHOICES they have made in their lives. Addiction is NOT a disease, it is a choice. I know of NO person who lost a good job and became a panhandler because they weren’t able to pull themselves up by their boot straps.
Do you know how much these “homeless panhandlers” make in an average day? Suckers who give them money are helping them make alot of tax free money daily. I have seen the same “stranded” guy at Kentucky and 465 and as well at 38th and 465 in the same month. He just goes back and forth. His sign used to say he was trying to get home to Michigan. Well, in the amount of time he was “trying” to get home to Michigan he could have WALKED there. Amazingly, now he is a “homeless veteran”.
Those of us who drive this city daily see the same people at different locations with different stories all the time. It is a scam and thank GOSH Mayor Ballard is taking this on.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Keep in mind also that homeless people aren’t born that way. They typically find their way there in adulthood, usually through bad decision-making that involves substance abuse, along with the destruction of any relationships that involve people who at one time cared about them.
Why help someone like that? Consider donating to respectable organizations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Jimmy V Foundation (for Cancer Research), The Susan B. Komen Foundation, or the Lance Armstrong Foundation instead. Consider Riley Hospital or a college scholarship fund. With organizations like these (and many others), at least you can believe that the money will be spent for its intended purpose, not for smokes and booze.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Best one yet was the person in a wheelchair panhandling on West Street at I-70, stood up to stretch and sat back down in the wheelchair.
Saw it with my own eyes. What a scam. God love ya’ LCol Ballard for taking the lead on this problem.
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I remember one of our local TV stations, some years ago did a story on these people. They watch on with a sign “homeless, need help” They followed him right to his house and asked him if he thought what he was doing was fair to others. Of course he slammed the door.