Our Moral Responsibility to Panhandlers

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Enoch

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I have an issue regarding our moral responsibility to panhandlers when they are holding up signs, or approach you asking for money. I work in a downtown area and I cannot step outside anymore without people looking for me to give them money.

It’s always the same story, “I’m hungry and need cash”, even thought there is a mission three blocks away from my office. In fact, one day a guy came up to me on a brand new mountain bike with a Mountain Dew in his hand telling me he hadn’t eaten in three days. So I offered to give him my sack lunch. He got real annoyed with me and rode off on his bike that I couldn’t even afford.

I’m not stupid. It’s obvious the only reason they want cash is so they can get a bottle of MD 20/20 and some rubbing alcohol (rub-a-dub)

I’ve stopped carrying cash so I can honestly tell them I don’t have any cash, but I also go to daily Mass. So that means I don’t ever have any money for candles or special collections they make take-up.

I would offer to walk them over to BK and buy them lunch with my debit card, but I get hit up almost daily, and these people are relentless. I’ve been told that by noon time they start getting desperate for cash to get their fix, because the mission won’t let them sleep there if they are still drunk or high in the evening.

Today when someone approached me I just ignored him, which I hate doing and now feel guilty. But I also hate being lied to and taken advantage of. Sorry I’m only human.

Anny suggestions?
 
I don’t have to deal with this often at all… but when we travel to big cities we always carry a box of granola bars with us…

If someone is really hungry, you can help satisfy that need.
Like you said, though… often times that’s not what they’re looking for.
I think you’re handling things just fine… offer food, if they have a sign suggesting hunger… otherwise be truthful (and don’t carry any cash)…

Sounds like this is what you’re already doing, though…
Good luck… it must be hard to deal with this on a daily basis.
 
We all have limited financial resources, and we are required not simply just to give money but to ensure that money is being used in the best ways possible. Donating money to a mission or other program that helps the homeless is good, as part of these missions is getting people off the street and making them self sufficent. Handing people money on the street is not a wise use of money simply because we really don’t know what they intend to do with it. Giving an alcoholic money to further their alcoholism is no act of charity. Our parish used to give out “gift certificates” to Safeway as they could be stamped “no alcohol or tabacco products.” When Safeway switched from the certificates to a debt card system the parish decided to stop handing them out because there was no longer any way to prevent them being used for booze. Moral responsiblity goes beyond handing out money.
 
I live in a very large city and I can sympathize with your question. It’s a very timely issue because the warmer weather has brought many more homeless and disadvantaged people onto the streets and into the subways asking for money for something to eat. Panhandling is also a big business here, with many questionable “charities” passing the hat to collect for one group or another.

My view, which I believe to be the Catholic one, is that as long as you are providing for the furtherance of Christ’s work on earth in your daily life, you need not feel guilty about not giving to any individual panhandler. As long as you are providing for the needs of your parish and giving to charities in accordance with your abilities, you are already observing Christ’s teaching of “Whatsoever you did for these the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.”

Sad as I feel sometimes, I have found that the best way for me to deal with panhandlers is to avoid making eye contact with them. I want to avoid any kind of exchange that would make them think I was looking down on them. Also some panhandlers can become aggressive if you engage them, which does not help my soul or theirs.

Even so, there have been times when my heart was just touched by someone and I ended up giving them the money anyway.

And you can always make a donation to the mission.🙂

Blessings,

Mrs_Mac
 
I used to work in a downtown area, and had the same issues. It didn’t take long to learn that handing out cash was an excellent way to help them support their habits of drugs and alcohol.

I have no problem telling them where the social service agencies are; I find that most really don’t want to know that. Those that do appreciate the help.

And I support the soical service agencies, so it is not as if I am doing nothing. I have pretty much seen it and heard it, and to those who say I am calloused and uncaringff, my response is that I care enough to not assist them in the process of killing themselves with illegal substances and alcohol; and if they feel that they are helping the poor by supporting drug and alcohol habits, then we will probably never agree.

In short, I don’t let them play on my emotions.
 
“Will work for food. Please help.” says the sign.

Multiple times, I’ve asked the panhandlers if they’ll work for cold, hard cash. I’ve got work right now and I’ll pay green money.

They have all declined and when pressed, freely admit they don’t want to work. Panhandling pays much better and is far easier. In my city, panhandling was outlawed. When it was determined that ordinance violated their freedom of speech, the solution was to require a permit for panhandling, licensing their corner. Now, these licenses are a ticket to free money, all you’ve gotta do is stand there and rake it in. It’s truly a something for nothing deal.

I’m sure there are some who really will work for food or money, but I haven’t encountered them.
 
I live in a warm southern state. So we have lots of panhandlers. (They don’t seem to like to live in places like New Hampshire.) And I hate it when they congregate outside the downtown church after Mass. Boy does it feel bad to come out of church and ignore the poor!

But the parish asked us to refrain from giving to them directly, and instead to donate to the SVDP Society that runs the shelter. That way we are not contributing to a drug or alcohol addiction, but truly helping them if that’s what they need.
 
I volunteer occasionally at our SVDP soup kitchen and the people who come seriously eat better than I do (and yet a small few still complain and threaten you if you can’t give them more helpings, etc. :rolleyes: )–they most likely want the money for stuff they can’t get from charity (smokes, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
 
I volunteer with the free lunch program in my city two week-ends a month. Most of these people truly need help or they would go hungry. We don’t have too many panhandlers here, but when I visit the bigger cities, I’m approached by many and quit often give out a few coins.
I know Jesus says… never to judge… and how will we really know our act of kindness goes for something other than food?:confused:
It’s always a difficult call to make and as most stated here they feel guility for not making an attempt to help, as it’s in our christian nature to reach out.:console:
 
Agree with the OP

I worked in New Orleans many years ago and panhandlers abound. I tried to give them my lunch sack one day and nearly got hit in the head with an umbrella as a thank you. I tried to take them to the nearest shelter during lunch but none would go with me. Instead they grabbed my colleagues purse and ran down to the French Quarter.

I agree with many posters here. Doing charitable works, giving to charitable organizations, and praying for the poor is a worthy course of action and keeps you and your family safe. God Bless them and I know its hard to do that and try to teach your own kids to be charitable to those less fortunate.

Wow - permit, licensed, panhandling - I wonder how much the permit costs??? and what happens if you don’t pay it? how do they find you?
 
I’m totally conflicted with this issue. You’ll think I’m nuts halfway through my post.

I don’t want to end up standing before God, and he says “Why didn’t you give anything to so and so when I gave you the opportunity, hmm?”

And I say “Well, I didn’t think he was legit.”

And God says…well, he could say that he was, or wasn’t legit, and perhaps it actually doesn’t make any difference.

It’s easy to give to what is obviously a starving child. It’s harder to give to someone who sort of looks legit, but you’re not quite sure. It’s very hard to give to someone who you think “Yup, he’s going to head straight for the liquor store.”

At some level, it seems to me that God isn’t looking for us to analyze how efficiently (or correctly) our contributions end up being used. “Well done, good and faithful servant, you helped 10,000 people by diligently giving to only the best charities while ignoring those dishonest panhandlers.” “But as for you, you idiot, how could you give money to help that alcoholic buy more booze.” Somehow, I don’t think it works that way.

The essence of sacrifice is to give up something in the material realm for something better in the spiritual realm. When we give away something for a possibly unworthy cause, it seems to me that this is a bigger sacrifice than giving to a cause that you know is worthy.

Will we be judged on how many people we helped who really needed help, or on how much we sacrificed?
 
ricmat said:
I’m totally conflicted with this issue. You’ll think I’m nuts halfway through my post.

I don’t want to end up standing before God, and he says “Why didn’t you give anything to so and so when I gave you the opportunity, hmm?”

And I say “Well, I didn’t think he was legit.”

And God says…well, he could say that he was, or wasn’t legit, and perhaps it actually doesn’t make any difference.

It’s easy to give to what is obviously a starving child. It’s harder to give to someone who sort of looks legit, but you’re not quite sure. It’s very hard to give to someone who you think “Yup, he’s going to head straight for the liquor store.”

At some level, it seems to me that God isn’t looking for us to analyze how efficiently (or correctly) our contributions end up being used. “Well done, good and faithful servant, you helped 10,000 people by diligently giving to only the best charities while ignoring those dishonest panhandlers.” “But as for you, you idiot, how could you give money to help that alcoholic buy more booze.” Somehow, I don’t think it works that way.

The essence of sacrifice is to give up something in the material realm for something better in the spiritual realm. When we give away something for a possibly unworthy cause, it seems to me that this is a bigger sacrifice than giving to a cause that you know is worthy.

Will we be judged on how many people we helped who really needed help, or on how much we sacrificed?
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I don’t think you’re nuts, Ricmat; I think you’ve put your finger on the problem. For me the real guilty feeling has nothing to do with an economic analysis of the benefit of giving to an institution as opposed to the individual; it’s because this person right here is asking for help, and I’m too cynical to help out (“Really? You’re pregnant and need help? You’ve been on this corner saying that for the past 18 months; shouldn’t you have delivered by now?”). I just don’t know what the proper Christian response is, for the very reasons you’ve pointed out; I have great difficulty in separating worldly wisdom from Godly wisdom in this area.

Worldly wisdom clearly supports giving to the institution rather than the person (perhaps combined with directions to the shelter or soup kitchen, or actually buying the person dinner). I just can’t truly figure out what Christ wants me to do in that situation: give to the panhandler – even if I know he’s going to “mis-spend” the money – or not?
 
ricmat said:
When we give away something for a possibly unworthy cause, it seems to me that this is a bigger sacrifice than giving to a cause that you know is worthy.
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Yep, We can’t get in trouble for giving to a cause that we had no idea was “bad”. We’re all supposed to trust. The thing I don’t like about panhandlers (bums) is they’re kinda scary. They walk up to you all disheveled and dirty and you’re not sure if they’re gonna beg or mug. The majority of panhandlers I’ve encountered in my life have always been alcoholics or drug addicts. If they look scary I avoid eye contact.
 
Godfollower said:
I don’t think you’re nuts, Ricmat; I think you’ve put your finger on the problem. For me the real guilty feeling has nothing to do with an economic analysis of the benefit of giving to an institution as opposed to the individual; it’s because this person right here is asking for help, and I’m too cynical to help out (“Really? You’re pregnant and need help? You’ve been on this corner saying that for the past 18 months; shouldn’t you have delivered by now?”). I just don’t know what the proper Christian response is, for the very reasons you’ve pointed out; I have great difficulty in separating worldly wisdom from Godly wisdom in this area.

Worldly wisdom clearly supports giving to the institution rather than the person (perhaps combined with directions to the shelter or soup kitchen, or actually buying the person dinner). I just can’t truly figure out what Christ wants me to do in that situation: give to the panhandler – even if I know he’s going to “mis-spend” the money – or not?
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Actually, I didn’t mean to bring up an “institution vs. person” issue.

The issue still exists even with institutions. Suppose a poor widow gives generously, out of her need not her surplus, for her whole life to Charity A. Then just before she dies, it turns out that Charity A was a total scam. All the money went to millionaires living on the French Riviera and Cape Cod. Will God say “You ended up not actually helping anybody, the down escalator is to your left.”

From the perspective of the widow’s salvation, I think that her intent and her sacrifice were important, not “how many people she actually helped.”

But as I said, I’m still struggling with this whole thing.
 
I have a brother who does not to work. He chose the life of a drifter and perpetual unemployment. He was not forced into it. He was a ‘A’ student in school and has no significant mental disorder. He just hates authority so much and bought so deeply into the anarchist movement that he rejects the whole concept of working for a living.

I have personally seen him bring home over $2000 in just one day of pan-handling. What does he do with this tax-free money? Does he rent an apartment? Fix his car? By drugs or alcohol? Nope, he just spends it on miscellaneous junk and travel. He only “works” a couple of days a month, and spends the rest of the time living pretty high.

I love my brother, but this makes me so sad and disappointed that he scams people $5 at a time. And to say that it breaks the heart of my elderly parents doesn’t even begin to describe how they feel.

I would never give money to a pan-handler. Instead I give to my Parish-sponsored help for the poor through St. Vincent de Paul.
 
ricmat said:
Actually, I didn’t mean to bring up an “institution vs. person” issue.

The issue still exists even with institutions. Suppose a poor widow gives generously, out of her need not her surplus, for her whole life to Charity A. Then just before she dies, it turns out that Charity A was a total scam. All the money went to millionaires living on the French Riviera and Cape Cod. Will God say “You ended up not actually helping anybody, the down escalator is to your left.”

From the perspective of the widow’s salvation, I think that her intent and her sacrifice were important, not “how many people she actually helped.”

But as I said, I’m still struggling with this whole thing.
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Actually, I don’t think the widow example is hard at all. God doesn’t hold us responsible for what we didn’t know; your widow was a victim, not a sinner, and she did the right thing with her worldly goods on earth.

The point I was praising in your first post was your point that it’s hard to give to something or someone we’re pretty sure isn’t the charity it or s/he appears to be – but that might still be exactly what we’re called to do! Jesus was in a position to say “But you don’t intend to use this money for food; you intend to use it for wine, women, & song. Follow Me instead.” We, on the other hand, usually can’t be sure. Your point is very well taken that maybe we’re supposed to give the money over anyway. And that just feels wrong, somehow – like we’re contributing to the (presumed) alcoholism/addiction/etc. But maybe that’s just worldly wisdom, not Christian charity.
 
Enoch said:
Today when someone approached me I just ignored him, which I hate doing and now feel guilty.
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Yes, its a tough situation to be in. I no longer live in a big city and the issue is emotionally not very close to me. So take what I say with a grain of salt. But I used to encounter beggars quite a bit and I understand the difficulties that everyone has described here.

I think our moral responsibility is to make an effort to recognize and acknowledge our common humanity with them. Yes, I have avoided eye contact and know that it is both a relief and yet guilt inducing as well. I think we really do need to need to make eye contact, reply if they speak to you, and be polite with them. And this is often outside our comfort zone…but we need to do it.

I understand the concerns about feeling exploited and the worry that the panhandler will misuse money. The idea of granola bars is a good one, I think. It is a way of responding to a plea for help which doesn’t dismiss them as unimportant.

Even better is the idea of trying to hook them up with social service agencies (even if most are already aware of them). But this takes time, both when talking to individuals and in learning about the resources. And time is sometimes short. Still, for persons willing to go the extra mile, this is probably a very morally responsible thing to do.

The problem with granola bars is how to carry them. Guys don’t ordinarily carry purses, and women may not feel comfortable rummaging in their purse when someone apparently not well-integrated into society is standing close by. I don’t know a good solution other than to carry a backpack, which isn’t always feasible.
 
I’m not Catholic (yet) but I really sympathize. I feel terrible for telling panhandlers I have no money, even when I sometimes do. Now, I don’t carry cash on me, but I still feel badly. I like the idea of carrying granola bars- that’s a great suggestion.
I also think you need to trust your judgement. My fiance knows one panhandler who is an honest, but mentally disabled guy. He buys him coffee and lunch when he sees him and the man is always very grateful. But it really is hard to know and I’m sure many (if not most) panhandlers are out on the streets and not in the shelters because of addiction problems.
I feel guilty because I never know who is truly needy. I know practically, it’s better to donate to a reputable charity, but as others have said it’s hard when a person comes up and asks you for help.
 
When we were driving around the city a few days ago there was a homeless man begging for money or food. We had some bottled water and I rolled down the window and gave it to him. I figured that is the best that I can do for him right now. He got a huge smile on his face and said “thank you very much” seemingly happy to have the water.

I am not big on giving them money for cigs and alcohol. Just my :twocents:
 
For a time, I participated in the work of an inner city parish.

The pastor also worked frequently with the non-Catholic community to serve the poor. They had soup kitchens and provided a wide variety of social services. Numerous reports of fights and stealing by the very same poor people they were serving.

HOWEVER, they were forced to stop giving money to panhandlers. The Catholic and non-Catholic clergy USED to give money out; however, one day one of the Protestant ministers ran out of money. He explained that to one of the panhandlers. The panhandler stabbed the minister to death.

So, they had to stop giving out money.

These people have no impulse control and had to be conditioned to understand that the clergy didn’t carry money with them.

One of my former members of Congress was very much involved with inner city homeless and publicly reported that 80% of the homeless are burned out on drugs and / or mental illness.

So, be extremely careful and be very aware of what you are doing and who you are dealing with.
 
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