I’ve heard rumors that people begging on street corners are making around $200 a day. I’ve heard they walk to their nearby apartment or home every day. I’ve heard they will refuse food or work because they really just want your cash. Then, I’ve also heard people talk about how they are still people in need and that we can’t ignore them just because they are standing on a street corner instead of in a shelter.

I don’t know if I’ll ever truly understand the full story or have all of the facts. But I’ve scraped together a few things.

Back in July 2005, the Daily Texan ran an article on the topic. Back then, there were a bunch of laws proposed that we going to basically outlaw begging from the streets. But, a judge struck it down as unconstitutional. It seems that a sidewalk is a public forum and the laws were too broad and would have prevented free speech. The article also quoted Susan Morris who was and is the ARCH’s spokesperson and Community Relations Director. Here is an excerpt from the interview with her:

“I don’t see any of the people out soliciting on the streets in our facilities at [ARCH],” Morris said. Many of the people seen asking for help on the city’s roads aren’t homeless but might actually be in the latter stages of alcohol or substance abuse, she said.

“We encourage people to give their money wisely to agencies that help with food, shelter and medical care,” Morris said.

Morris blamed a lack of treatment facilities for indigent people with substance abuse issues in Austin for the amount of panhandlers that don’t use the money given to them wisely.

“We would like to see these people come in to get services, because the money people are giving them is probably not going to do anything helpful like provide shelter for the night or medical care,” Morris said.

This year, in March 2008, an Austin judge upheld the 2005 Municipal Court ruling that a city ordinance banning the solicitation of drivers is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. You can read more about it in a TRLA blog entry I ran across.

I ran across another post on a military spouse support blog that appears to contain a copy of a Houston Chronicle story about Austin panhandling and includes an actual interview with one of the panhandlers. Here is an excerpt:

John Henry Smith insists he makes an honest living begging for money at intersections in the state’s capital. In a few hours, with his swollen left leg exposed, he can make $70 or $80.

“It helps to be sick,” said the 49-year-old Lubbock native, who was shot in the leg 30 years ago.

Some people argue that we should all stop giving anything to people on the street corners so they will stop standing on the corners and begging. Well, if Susan Morris is right, if they are in the latter stages of substance abuse, then I wonder if taking away their street corners would force them to resort to crime to get money to support their addictions. Or, to hear John Henry Smith talk about it, he just sees it as a way to make $70 to $80 an hour. I gotta hand it to him. He makes more than me, but at least I’m not having to stand on a street corner and annoy people.

My current thoughts on all of this are that these folks on the street corners are my “neighbors” and that I should “love” them in some appropriate way. For me, for now, this means I’m going to respect them, offer them a smile, and maybe say, “Hi”, or maybe even ask them their name – but that’s it. They seem to be making a choice to be on the corner begging instead of getting help from local organizations. At some point, maybe we should all have little fliers made that have the address and bus route info for the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) on it along with other agencies so we can give that to them instead of cash. But for me, if I’m giving my money or time, I want it to go toward something that will eliminate poverty or homelessness and not something that will help sustain the thriving industry of street corner begging.

Many of these people have continued to improve their “businesses” too. Some around Riverside and I-35 are regularly offering iced down water bottles in return for a minimum donation. I’ve seen others in the area selling flowers. Over near Lamar and 5th St. they sometimes offer you a little newspaper in return for a donation. These things seem to support the claim that these are all just business people trying to make a buck. I suppose it is just a matter of time until the State Comptroller catches up with them and demands the appropriate permits and back sales taxes.

Enough about street corners. I’m done with this for now. On to learning more about other populations who are actually homeless and need help overcoming it.