So an interesting thing is happening in our city right now. Perhaps you have read the paper or heard the radio announcements by Mayor Bill White that announce his new initiative to deter people from donating money or giving spare change to the homeless on street corners or panhandlers under the overpasses around town. Instead, he wants Houstonians to donate money to organizations that help turn around lives of the homeless or disable or poor. They site specific examples of organizations like Coalition for the Homeless of Houston or United Way or the Salvation Army. This is officially called the "Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness," and I am not sure how I feel about it.
I understand the feeling of not giving a few dollars to a homeless man on the street because he could just use it to feed his alcohol or substance-abuse problem. He may not use it to feed himself or his kids, or to buy medicine; he could use to further harm himself. But I also am aware that for any money I donate to an organization like those mentioned above, a percentage of that (sometimes small, sometimes big) ALWAYS goes into things like salaries, overhead, and supplies that these non-profit organizations have to have to stay in business.
So I am torn. What do we do? What do we as Christ-followers do about this? We know that we have been commisioned to reach out and touch those who are in these most unfortunate circumstances. Do we continue to touch people as individuals or give to organizations that do it professionally? I would love to hear your comments on this and how you feel about it. What would you do? Which side are you on? What is best for these people we are talking about? What are some alternative solutions to the problem.
The full article talking about this can be found here.
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Other things going on:
Talk to Robby about the Labor Day float trip if you are signed up to go. The website and all of the information can be found in his post a couple below this one - or talk to him on Sunday. Also, his email is robby.day@sbcglobal.net.
Life groups are at the normal time this Sunday night (8/27). Gibson/Boudra will be at Jeremy and Mandy's house and Kirksey/Day will be at Robby and Kami's house - both at 6:15.
See Tara if you haven't yet put your information in the new contact list sheet. I think she is almost done compiling it.
Ryan
Friday, August 25, 2006
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3 comments:
I heard about Mayor Bill White’s proposal several days ago and was surprised by it. I understand his idea, in theory, but it seems rather uncompassionate. Houston’s citizens could donate thousands upon thousands of dollars to organizations that service the homeless, but many of these individuals would probably never benefit directly. As Ryan mentioned, there are numerous costs to keep non-profits and state agencies running effectively (and some operate rather poorly, as I have witnessed first hand).
I personally feel that I should do whatever I can to directly help the poor and homeless. I have absolutely no qualms with giving money to individuals who are on the streets or under overpasses, and I try my best to do so when I actually have cash on me and the opportunity arises. It may be naïve of me to think that they will utilize the money for necessities (i.e. food, clothes, shelter), but I am hopeful. I know there are people who actually make their living via panhandling, making more than I do in a year, and there are also many out there who use the money to fund various addictions, yet this still does not deter me from giving money to the poor and homeless. Who knows? The money we hand over may really help an individual or family in a time of dire need or may keep someone from going hungry one less day or may buy a child medicine. If any of these occur even once, then I believe that my donations and effort have been worthwhile. As a Christian, it is not up to me to judge or decipher what exactly each person will do with the money. Instead, it is up to me to give freely from my heart and to try my best to help those who are less fortunate.
- Amy
What if....
Often times when we feel tension about an issue, it is because we get stuck in an either/or mindset. Take the current issue. On the one hand, Mayor White's proposition might help decrease the frequency of panhandling, will probably increase contributions to very worthy social organizations, and might increase available services to the homeless. On the other hand, there is the concern that individuals who are most in need, like the severely mentally ill, are the type of people who are least likely to utilize a structured homeless program (see http://www.nrchmi.samhsa.gov/ for some statistics on mental illness in the homeless) and subsequently could most use a few bucks from us. We've created an "either follow Bill White's example and clean up the city or be a good guy and give money where it is needed" scenario.
Rather than focusing on the either/or nature of the current debate, I want to propose and see other's possible solutions to this issue. If we are truly called to help address social justice issues (read Ruth, Isaiah, the minor prophets to see if Christians are supposed to be involved here...oh yeah, and most of the things Jesus said during His ministry....)then what would this look like. Some ideas:
1) Create an organized rapid response team for panhandling. What if when you saw a panhanlder you could give them a card or call a number and a van would come by and distribute food, water, food vouchers, information about obtaining medical and mental health care, and otherwise meet needs on the spot. This would be an organization that you could donate to, participate in, etc., that would meet needs directly on the street level, the same as your cash donation can.
2) What if we as a group pooled our money and bought hundreds of 5 dollar walmart/mcdonalds/JITB/HEB/sonic gift cards which we distributed to everyone's cars. If a panhandler is present, you can help meet a need without giving cash, and without trying to weigh the motivations of the person.
3) Along the same lines, what if we collected and/or created packets of food, clothes, gift cards, shelter info, Harris County health department info that we could carry around donate.
4) what if we stopped and invited the person to come to church and a meal with us....
I know none of these ideas is a perfect solution, nor will any resolve the essential tension of the "either/or" question completely. Indeed, I think part of the reason that we feel tension about this issue is that God wants us to notice the problem and do something about it! I just hope that we will not let ourselves be backed into a philosophical corner about how to go about helping and do nothing!
Jared
Jared is so smart.
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