Vancouver has a panhandling problem. It’s worse than any other North American city (and almost every European city) I’ve visited. Why do we have such a problem? Fair weather, left-leaning governments and the local drug scene are probably the cause. Unless they’re belligerent (which is quite rare), beggars don’t particular bother me. However, the tourists aren’t keen on them, and those are important dollars to the local economy.
As Bree and Donna point out, Vancouver’s chief of police wants people to stop giving change to beggars:
“It’s the business principle of supply and demand,” he told an open-line radio show. “If you continue to give money to people who beg for money on street corners, they’re going to stay there. “If there is no money to be given by citizens who walk up and down the street, they’re not going to be there. They’re there because people give.”
He’s probably right about the whole supply and demand thing.
I’ve got a simple policy. Instead of giving money to random panhandlers, who may use it buy food or drugs or alcohol or the new Jessica Simpson CD, I make an annual donation (more than I’d give out in change, certainly) to the Union Gospel Mission. I’m not Christian, but I’ve done some research. This organization is right in my community (literally down the street ) and do excellent work in feeding and clothing the homeless. If a panhandler ever does get lippy, I tell him about my donation, and give him the address.
Incidentally, I do give money to buskers, even if they’re utterly crap. At least they’re attempting to provide a service (so to speak), and it’s admirable thing to try to perform in public. If they want to buy crack with money they’ve earned, that’s their business.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I agree, I’m more likely to give change to someone who’s doing something — even the bum that holds the door at my bank is worth a little, and when I drove a vehicle that had windows, I would frequently throw some change at the window washers too. (Although if I say no, don’t touch my goddamned windows, bitch! You’re likely to get a squirt of my wiper fluid if you touch my car without permission.)
I remember being on the skytrain once, and a reasonably nicely dressed man got on and played the violin for a stop. Now, what he was doing was totally illegal (you can’t busk on translink property without a permit, and translink doesn’t give permits to busk ON the trains) … however, it was really pretty. I wasn’t planning on giving him any money until the jackass sitting across from me muttered (loudly) to “get a job, asshole”.
That annoyed me enough that I very specifically got up, and in plain view of the real asshole, handed the violinist (violiner? violinite?) a toonie.
Panhandling is pretty bad in Victoria, too. I also circumvent giving to people by donating to charity, though I give to the United Way, and designate my money to specific local charities. I also regularly shop at and donate to the Salvation Army which does a lot to help the homeless in Victoria.
I agree that buskers at least are doing something, and I believe Victoria licenses all buskers — more or less a mini-business license — so I don’t put them in the same category.
I once gave a pregnant homeless woman some food instead of her requested cash. Albeit small, it was a significant personal hit; fresh cake from a coffee house. I hope that she appreciated the cake and ate it to keep herself nourished, but who knows. I’m guessing that most homeless take the free food a shelter can provide, but still beg for money because it gets them things that the shelter *won’t* provide.
I agree too – I do like you do, except that I give to the Vancouver Food Bank rather than the UGM. No criticism of the UGM, though I prefer not to give to religious organizations.
I used to live close to Robson & Bute so I got to see more panhandlers than most, I guess – and I used to give money to some of those guys, but you see the same cast of characters day-after-day for a year and compassion fatigue definitely sets in.
BTW, that guy with no teeth (Cliff, I believe his name is) outside the Robson St London Drugs, he totally drives me nuts. I think that guy’s voice has done more to sour my attitude to panhandlers than any other single factor.
Definitely reducing the supply is going to have more of an effect than changing the law – I just don’t believe a new law would be enforced (or enforcable.) That said, I have not encountered “aggressive” panhandling, which is alleged to be a problem addressed by the proposed legislation – has anyone else really come across this?
(Slightly OT) Squeegee kids on the other hand are a different problem – I don’t think there is such a thing as a non-invasive squeegee kid, and it’s not like they are offering a service that anyone wants (yes, please throw dirty water over my car, and here’s 75 cents. Hmmm…)
If you are looking to support a charity, consider donating to Quest Outreach Society. (Disclaimer: I have done some contract work for them.) They redirect surplus food to the needy, instead of sending it to landfills. They warehouse, sort and cull the food, then process it. They run a meal kitchen on the Downtown Eastside and supply food to most of the meal kitchens in the Lower Mainland. Through a new food processing plant, Quest processes food so that it can have a stable supply of nutritious food year-round. (For example, there’s no rush to get rid of apples in October if you can make apple sauce and freeze or can it.)
Small Potatoes, Safeway, Uprising Breads, and many, many other food distributors and manufacturers donate their surplus food to Quest. This is often because the potatoes are too small, the bread is about to go stale, the tomatoes aren’t selling, etc. These companies used to throw the food away. Now Quest picks it up and warehouses it.
Unlike the Food Bank, Quest does not buy food. So each $1 you donate to Quest helps deliver $10 worth of food to needy people. This is even better than the deals the Food Bank gets, because Quest gets the food for free. Quest also runs an emergency food bank, but its main focus is on redistributing food to dozens of organizations around town. A small donation to Quest has a big impact around the community.
Quest also runs training programs to help underprivileged people develop job skills. Through my contract with Quest, I helped develop training programs for warehouse workers, shipper/receivers, truck drivers, food processing workers, cooks, and administrative staff. There is also a volunteer program to help people develop skills when they are not quite job-ready. Volunteers earn credits that they can use to “shop” in the warehouse.
You can visit Quest at http://www.questoutreach.org. When you donate $1 to Quest, you’re helping to deliver $12 in food, provide a job, create training opportunities, and support organizations throughout the Lower Mainland.
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