Spare a dime, or some time?

very city seems to have its panhandlers and beggars: the man holding the cardboard sign by the Walmart, the disheveled individual seated with a jar on a busy sidewalk, the woman with small children waiting by the church door.
 
Our instinct is to help, but what is the right thing to do? Are these beggars sincerely needy, or are they taking advantage of our sympathy?

Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, prolific author on leadership and organizational change, has faced such mixed feelings when confronted by a panhandler.
“Every time I meet a beggar, I find myself in a quandary,” he writes in his 2019 book Down the Rabbit Hole of Leadership. “What should I do? Should or shouldn’t I give them money?”

If he gives them nothing, he rationalizes his lack of generosity: “Are they really in need? If I give money, aren’t they just going to spend it on alcohol or drugs?” He also wonders whether giving would truly be a generous act or “just a self-serving way of feeling good — a quick and easy way of avoiding a bad conscience with little effort.”

WHAT TO GIVE?

It’s a familiar conundrum. People of good will are divided on what they ought to do with panhandlers. A Christian might contribute frequently, citing the words of Jesus: “Give to him who begs from you” (Matt 5:42). Yet most agencies that serve the poor recommend against giving out cash.

“We always tell people, don’t ever give money,” said Tiffany Crooks of the Central Louisiana Homeless Coalition, “because you’re reinforcing the panhandling behavior.”

Some church leaders say likewise. A few years ago, after the city council in Cranston, RI, voted to crack down on beggars, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence posted a social media message against handing money to panhandlers. “Throwing some loose change at a panhandler while passing by is demeaning of his or her human dignity,” the bishop said. “While it might make us feel better, in fact it sustains a very unhealthy and degrading lifestyle.”
 
It is also a practice that “enables a few dishonest individuals to prey upon the compassion of others to ask for money, even when they don’t have legitimate needs,” he noted. As an alternative, he suggested supporting local organizations that assist the poor.

Some caring individuals hand out pamphlets directing people to a nearby shelter or food bank, small gift cards for fast-food restaurants, or nonperishable food items like granola bars and water bottles that they keep in their vehicles for that purpose.
 
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, however, suggests that handing out food can be problematic for the panhandler.

“They might be a picky eater or have allergies. They might have a hard time trusting that the food someone hands them on the street is safe, edible, and something they will like,” said Tanya Gulliver-Garcia, the Observatory’s research coordinator.
 
‘HELP IS ALWAYS RIGHT’

In a 2017 interview with Scarp de’ Tenis, 
an Italian street magazine based in Milan, Pope Francis was asked whether it is “right” to give money to beggars.

“Help is always right,” the Pope responded — but real help goes beyond a mere financial contribution.
 
“Certainly, it is not a good thing just to throw a few coins at the poor,” he elaborated. “The gesture is important, helping those who ask, looking them in the eyes and touching their hands. Tossing the money without looking in the eyes, that is not the gesture of a Christian.”

To another question, Pope Francis explained how the first thing he does when he meets  street people is to greet them and treat them with human dignity.
 
“People who live on the streets understand immediately if there is true interest on the part of the other person,” a recognition of their suffering, he said. “It is possible to see a homeless person and look at him as a person, or as if he were a dog.”
 
KEY: MEANINGFUL JOBS

Kets de Vries concludes that giving to beggars is the “least helpful solution” because it is only temporary: we need sustainable alternatives to solve the problem of poverty. Giving to charities that assist the poor is a more effective response. But the responsibility ultimately falls to the business community.

Our alms “could be better spent contributing to the creation of jobs, incomes, and hope, instead of dependency,” he writes.
 
Although there may always be beggars, wise business leaders can create meaningful jobs with opportunities to help the poor in a productive and sustainable way.
 
“Could the business community get together to find creative work-oriented solutions to tackle the beggar explosion?” he asks.

GERALD KORSON is editor of Legatus magazine.