A Bad Alternative to Panhandling

Don't let bright colors or the chipper language on the meter fool you. This donation meter, a panhandling alternative rising in popularity, doesn't necessarily mean that the city is taking strides to house its homeless population. In reality, they're more about ridding streets of panhandlers rather than helping them.

And you know what they say... out of sight, out of mind.

If you live in Denver, Baltimore, Cleveland, Atlanta, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Montreal, or Miami, you may have seen these before. Cities remove parking meters in panhandling hotspots and replace with donation meters. The cheerful language on the meters usually says something about how the funds raised will support homeless service organizations in the community. (To be clear, this part doesn't bother me. If it was only about funding for human services, I'd advocate putting one at every parking spot in a city.)

The real problem lies in the ulterior political motives for these meters. They look good, they make people feel good when they put money in them, but all they're really doing is forcing those who are living on the streets to move somewhere else.

On the flip side, there's a good argument to be made for encouraging the chronically homeless to seek services. And in each of these communities, there are organizations willing to provide housing and supportive services to help those who panhandle get back on their feet. If panhandling becomes more difficult, perhaps they'd be more likely to accept this outreach.

So even if these meters were created with the best of intentions, they seem to have evolved into something much different. Even if they are put in place as a way to encourage people to seek services, no donation meter can ever replace boosting a person's self-worth through outreach and human contact.

If you ask me, these meters are just another way of controlling an already vulnerable population.