Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.
After stopping by a couple abandoned campsites, and conferring with others who have lots of contact with the homeless, I think there are 16 people sleeping in cars, unheated buildings, and outside in Worcester this week.
Some of these folks work, some get government aid, and some have no steady income.
This is roughly one out of every 10,000 residents. There was no overlap in our lists, so the actual number is possibly much higher.
I don’t like vandalism, which is why I’ve been active in asking City Government to take down the ugly anti-panhandling signs they’ve strapped to light poles around the city. The whole anti-panhandling campaign is like a medication that doesn’t work: it fails to solve the problem, and the side-effects are unpleasant.
In late November some Worcesterites covered the city-sponsored eyesores with a more helpful message (with better graphic design): “Stop the War on the Poor.” I like the guy whose head is the city seal (heart and laurels). Weather has taken its toll on these repairs, and now they’re mostly peeled off, leaving big blotches.
Above: Nov 30, 2005 photo from Worcester Independent Media Center. Below: Jan 7, 2006 photo by Mike Benedetti.
On the one hand, a lot of guys panhandle to feed addictions.
On the other hand, asking for help is a basic social action. When I came into the world, the first thing I did was took a breath and cried for help.
When a city mounts an anti-panhandling media campaign, it can come across as saying: “Welcome to our town! Don’t even think of asking for help here!”
How should we relate to people who are asking for things we probably shouldn’t give them?
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette had a long, front-page article on Worcester’s anti-panhandling campaign this Sunday, written by Taryn Plumb. The article gave lots of space to those who disagree with the city’s plan:
“Why are we wasting so much time, effort and money on a few panhandlers?” asked community advocate Peter Stefan, who owns Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Home on Main Street. “We’re turning an M&M into a basketball. We have people dying of AIDS, people starving, people who can’t afford to buy medicine for their kids. I don’t get it.”
And the article quoted a few words from the street:
“It’s legal to stand here and say hello,” Jimmy Fahey said, standing alongside Chandler Street. “You’re not giving money to someone to buy drugs. You’re helping someone keep their head above water.”
His friend, a panhandler who did not wish to be identified, was a bit more indignant.
“Panhandling is not the answer,” he said mockingly. “Not the answer to what? What do they know about my problems?”
River Sims, of San Francisco’s Temenos Catholic Worker, begins his ministry when the sun goes down. He walks the streets of his neighborhood, Polk Gulch, doing what he can for the mostly-young, mostly-male, addicts and prostitutes who congregate there.
He hands out sandwiches, condoms, lubricant, long- and short-tipped syringes, and “kits” with stuff needed to shoot heroin with proper hygiene. And, he’s a “presence of grace.”
In 2003, he said that the previous year he’d attended 24 funerals, and the average age was 19.
His blog takes most of this in stride.
River Sims in his apartment, with the infamous “Points for Jesus” t-shirt. Photo: Mike Benedetti.
Today is the anniversary of the Webby-nominated photo blog The Snowsuit Effort.
Many of the pix are of folks who live on the streets of Detroit.
Confused? The author explains himself.
