[Summit] Panhandlers

Mon Jun 13 16:58:37 UTC 2016

I do still give to panhandlers (though almost never to telemarketers; I now
donate online), but these latest reports have me wondering if Providence's
lax enforcement has attracted profiteers.

Emlyn

On Mon, Jun 13, 2016 at 12:45 PM, Ethan Gyles <ethangy at gmail.com> wrote:

> With you there, Jim. My personal philosophy is that if I'm carrying a
> couple bucks and a person on the street asks humbly, I'll give. What will I
> regret at the end: giving a little away to somebody I don't know who
> appeared to be in need, or turning away, believing I knew better?
>
> Ethan
> Hillside Ave.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 13, 2016, at 12:30 PM, Jim Barfoot <barfootjim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Which should I feel worst about - giving a few bucks to a scam artist who
> doesn't need it? Or refusing to give the same amount to someone who does?
> If I can afford it, does the shame of being tricked outweigh the help I
> could give to someone in need?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 13, 2016, at 11:58 AM, Emlyn Addison <noisyblocks at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I vividly recall, in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, that it
> surfaced that telemarketing outfits were calling people and asking for
> donations under the pretense of being charities for the
> firefighters/police/victims' families directly affected by the tragedy. As
> it turned out, almost all of these early donation drives were outright
> scams.
>
> Nothing in my experience up to that point had prepared me for such cold
> selfishness and greed; bottom-feeders looking to score easy money off
> emotionally vulnerable people. It prompted a mental shift--that I simply
> refused any longer to trust anyone asking for my money (how many on this
> list have personally heard the story about needing a few bucks because
> they've "run out of gas"? I count at least 3 times.)
>
> It's the age-old problem: cheaters ruin it for the rest of us. We know
> that most panhandlers are homeless, hungry, and in need; but which ones
> aren't? Are they being further marginalized by organized scammers?
>
>
> Emlyn
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 13, 2016 at 11:38 AM, Theresa Mathiesen <elvamath at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Right after Sept. 11, 2001, I observed something that bears on this topic
>> (panhandling).
>>
>> I was in Tealuxe, on the corner of Thayer and Angell Streets.  (I went
>> there every day on my work breaks.)  Firemen were collecting money from
>> motorists stopped at the traffic light on Angell St., at the intersection
>> with Thayer St.  They were collecting for the families of the firemen
>> killed during the assault on the Twin Towers in New York City.  Lots of
>> people put money in the firemen's boots they held out.
>>
>> But, ever the scientist, I wanted a "control" -- that is, another
>> situation, similar but different.  People were collecting money at the
>> intersection of North Main and Branch Ave.  Or maybe it was Smithfield.  In
>> those days the people collecting at these intersections wore smocks with
>> printing on them telling what they were collecting for, but I could never
>> see the smocks well enough to read them.  So we have to assume that their
>> charity, if there was one, was unknown.  And just as many drivers were
>> putting money into these people's baskets and cans as into the firemen's
>> boots!
>>
>> My conclusion was and is that big intersections are fountains of free
>> money.  "Ask and ye shall receive".  No wonder the people are fighting over
>> them.
>>
>> Elva
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 8:50 PM, Emlyn Addison <noisyblocks at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> FYI, just posted today on Facebook by a friend of mine:
>>>
>>> "I always suspected that the panhandlers in Providence were part of
>>> some organized group (vast conspiracy etc.) Today I saw a woman with the
>>> typical "homeless, anything will help" sign standing at an intersection. A
>>> man (her manager? handler?) sitting on a low wall on the side of the road
>>> said to her "you can come over here and sit for 10 minutes, then you have
>>> to get back out there."
>>>
>>> Also today, one intersection away from there, another "homeless" was
>>> holding a similar sign, but as I passed her I noticed she was texting on
>>> one of those giant iPhone 6s that she was hiding behind the sign.
>>>
>>> I've also seen a new homeless person "relieve" another, as if they were
>>> punching in and the other person was punching out."
>>>
>>>
>>> I doubt it's the norm, but these kind of observations are concerning.
>>>
>>>
>>> Emlyn
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM, Andrew Cagen <cagenlaw at acagen.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I would also be very interested in attending. It would be good if some
>>>> of the people whom we see at intersections every day were there as well.
>>>> Andy Cagen
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 10, 2016, at 5:33 PM, Tony Adams <aa44ee at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I would definitely attend such a meeting!
>>>>
>>>> Anyone else?
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 10, 2016, at 13:29, Gayle Gifford <gayle at ceffect.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I’m sure that if the neighborhood were interested, we could arrange a
>>>> community information session at Rochambeau Library with some of the folks
>>>> who have strong outreach programs to the homeless.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Diana Burdett, who lives in Summit, is Executive Director of PICA, a
>>>> really fabulous and grossly underfunded agency (true for all listed below)
>>>> that has a homeless outreach program that works very hard to help those who
>>>> are homeless to apply for benefits, have warrants cleared (many of which
>>>> are for fines they can’t afford to pay), and connect with other services.
>>>> PICA also runs the largest food pantry in the state (which I first worked
>>>> with PICA a few years ago they were serving about 250 folks per month. They
>>>> now serve 12,000) https://www.facebook.com/pvdintownchurches/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Megan Smith is a fierce advocate and works in outreach for House of
>>>> Hope CDC. (the organization working with WBNA).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless is just up the street at
>>>> 170 Main Street Pawtucket. Their director is Jim Ryczek.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If folks would be interested, I am happy to reach out to them. Many of
>>>> the organizations that serve those who are poor or without a home have been
>>>> clients of mine .
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Gayle Gifford
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> “A 2014 Bankrate survey, echoing the Fed’s data, found that only 38
>>>> percent of Americans would cover a $1,000 emergency-room visit or $500 car
>>>> repair with money they’d saved. Two reports published last year by the Pew
>>>> Charitable Trusts found, respectively, that 55 percent of households didn’t
>>>> have enough liquid savings to replace a month’s worth of lost income, and
>>>> that of the 56 percent of people who said they’d worried about their
>>>> finances in the previous year, 71 percent were concerned about having
>>>> enough money to cover everyday expenses. “
>>>> http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
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