What's in a number? Maybe a new direction and a chance for real help.
If you spend any time at all in Fresno, you know about the people who make their living holding up signs on traffic medians. This is not just a local problem. It is in cities across the nation. I have spent lots of time thinking about these people and why it is I am so bothered by them. The bottom line is that the majority are not homeless. They rely on the compassion of strangers to maintain their lifestyle, and they use guilt to produce their intended results.
There are avenues of help for these people, but they refuse to take a different path.
I have personally talked with many of the "median homeless." I have offered the women a place to stay at Evangel Home. However, they prefer to stand for hours doing nothing but holding a sign and looking pitiful. By now I can predict the reasons they will give me for not getting real help. They don't like the rules. They don't want religion "forced" on them. It's their freedom-of- speech right to stand in the road with a sign. They don't want their checks going somewhere else and having someone know their business. Most of them have post office boxes or an address for mail. Some listen to me, take my card and are very polite, but we never hear from them.
And so they pass up the opportunity for real help in order to continue their scam on the compassionate public. That is what I find so troubling. There are places for these folks to get help, but they don't want it. This is not the city's fault. It is not the system's fault. It is the choice of this group to make their living in this way.
Evangel Home offers one of the best alternatives to women who truly want help. If you decide to give money to a woman on a median, please also give her our phone number: 559.264.4714. She'll probably have a cell phone.
About Us: Telling our stories. Sharing our lives.
- Gerre Brenneman, Evangel Home Executive Director
- This blog is about the Evangel Home--a Christian ministry to homeless women and childen. It is called "Inside Out" because we want to give you a glimpse into our home--to share the joys of being part of redeemed lives as well as the hard landings that are the reality of being in the trenches. And sometimes there's just an opinion or thought we want to share.
Thanks for writing this, Gerre. You are probably one of most qualified people in Fresno to write on this topic. I have always felt so conflicted because Jesus tells us to help the poor, but then I've wondered, are they doing anything at all to help themselves? Mostly I haven't given them anything for that very reason, however, recently a friend sort of challenged me by saying we're supposed to help the poor and not judge how they'll use the money. I confess that even after reading your post, I remain conflicted. If they ask for money and I give them a phone number, have I helped the poor? Maybe I'm just a sucker for a sad face. Argh!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI'm conflicted too. It's just these most of these people are not as poor as they appear to be. Some of them make more money than you would ever imagine. Evangel Home staff is going to make a concerted effort to really talk with the women on the medians.
Thanks. Maybe you could come out with me someday.
Gerre
I'd love to, with a pre-talk pep talk from your staff!
ReplyDelete"It's just these most of these people are not as poor as they appear to be. Some of them make more money than you would ever imagine."
ReplyDeleteThe math makes sense. At a busy interesection with, say, 1000 cars passing by each hour, if the response rate is one driver in a hundred cars, and guessing the average donation is around $5.00, that's a staggering $50/hour. If we accept this as a maximum and set the minimum at only 2 cars an hour ($10/hr), that's an average of $30/hr. Allowing for slow and busy times, we'll reduce that to $20/hr. In an 8-hour "shift" the pull is $160. Give her weekends off, and that's $800/week x 50 weeks/year (every job comes with a 2-week vacation) and that's a cool $40k/yr of tax-free income. And that's the low end.
So it's not financial desperation that keeps them behind the flimsy cardboard sign, but financial reward.
I can see how this could bother you.
I'm not sure of the math, but your point is perfect: it's not financial desperation but financial reward. They are relying on guilt to help compassion bloom, and I find that very sad.
ReplyDeleteGerre
Great line of comments. Thank you, Gerre for sharing about this. You said it well and described my feelings exactly. I have thought about giving information about places they can go and probably should actually do that next time. Serving as the receptionist at First Pres. for five years I was always amazed (and exhausted) at the number of excuses I would get from people coming in for "help". I realized for those who offered lots of excuses, it wasn't about help it was about wanting money.
ReplyDeleteI love that God calls us to help people, I also love the examples in the bible where Jesus offers his help but also directs that person on what they need to do. There is a responsibility and a call on those who are able to help but the one in need also has a call and responsibility and Christ demonstrated that time again. What a dynamic, wonderful and perfect God we serve!