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Homelessness and Panhandling in Toronto

I've been tempted to hire homeless people off the street to clean the sidewalks around downtown. In the winter, I think it would be much appreciated if instead of just standing around, they would shovel the snow (I'd bring the shovels of course!).

In cases where I do give to homeless people, I offer only food. When I worked at a restaurant I would sometimes have leftovers that I would offer.
 
I know you don't care, but for the record I have been very open minded on this thread, and IMO write from many different points of view on almost every topic I consider.

Yes, your frequent racist posts illustrate your open mind very well. The fact that a good Harperite Christianist like you also hates the poor only underscores how open your crabbed little mind is.
 
I think it is crucial to distinguish between homelessness and panhandlers. The two or not always synonymous. Furthermore, there are distinctions to be made between different panhandlers and their approach to people on the street.
 
Where is the compassion here? This is a human problem - not just a taxpayer issue or a tourism issue, and it does not have to be a politicised issue, unless that is the only way you can understand it.

Two weeks out of every year I volunteer in whatever city I am in, you name it - soup kitchens, door to door, telephone calls - done that for the last 6 years as I scheduled my own time away for things like this. I know better than anyone that this is only a pittance, but I do believe if enough of us actively did something, more than something if you have the means and the time, maybe much of this continuing problem could be addressed by saving as many as we can from this homeless existence. The person that volunteered their bags of groceries, that random act means a great deal for the desperate person they met. Some say this is the best method because no money is involved: no money for the noble organization to skim for salaries and expenses, no money for some panhandler scam, and no money for a homeless druggie or alcoholic to use to get high, or get drunk. Well there is much to ponder here but there are always several avenues to address homelessness. The lack of shelter comes after food, but it also defines the individual as homeless. Even in heartless Chicago, two well-known architects, Helmut Jahn and Stanley Tigerman, have donated their time to design structures and solicit monies to get the poor off the street. From what I understand, these architects were unaware of each other’s efforts until recently. And then that city has tried to step in and get job training or re-training, and serve in initial placement into the workforce. None of this works as it should, but this is a way of starting to deal with something that could conceivably befall any one of us, or anyone we are related, or have liked, or have known - and seemingly could happen at any time.

I have met people on the streets that are current or former druggies and/or alcoholics - even many of them, the so-called "hopeless" or "abject," once had responsible jobs, maybe careers. Due often to a series of personal misfortunes and/or outright tragedies they have found themselves descending to the streets - at times accompanied by their immediate families - and that fall through an invisible net that was suppose to catch them is a bloody hard one indeed. Yes there are children involved in all this, you may not see them on the streets, but they may be removed from their parent or parents and loosely protected, but no one wants to consider these complications. We would much rather argue about the problems than to personally commit on some visceral level.

I am not advocating placing yourself in danger, just find a way to do something, rather than just complain about it, or wait for someone else to do something about it, or assume your tax money or occasional donations are doing enough already. Make fun of me if you want, but do not make fun of them, don't give up on them. Many will need your compassion to find a way out of their personal hell and become productive again. Being productive must then be used as a bridge tto move on from temporary shelter into more private shelter - this represents a long road for many of them, but one that would benefit not only them, but the rest of us as well.
 
Apparently in Paris the Doctors of the World organization started handing out tents to homeless people for them to sleep in. Many homeless people don't like shelters and found that they much preferred the tents; it was shelter on their own terms. I don't think it's meant to be a permanent solution however (the organization said they would stop supplying tents when the government created more housing). It certainly makes the homeless more visible. I'm not sure if this would be a good idea for Toronto, some people say that this only encourages the homeless to congregate (I'm not sure how true that is). And really, what's the difference between a bunch of people lying on the ground and a bunch of people sleeping in little tents?
 
Apparently in Paris the Doctors of the World organization started handing out tents to homeless people for them to sleep in. Many homeless people don't like shelters and found that they much preferred the tents; it was shelter on their own terms. I don't think it's meant to be a permanent solution however (the organization said they would stop supplying tents when the government created more housing). It certainly makes the homeless more visible. I'm not sure if this would be a good idea for Toronto, some people say that this only encourages the homeless to congregate (I'm not sure how true that is). And really, what's the difference between a bunch of people lying on the ground and a bunch of people sleeping in little tents?
Perhaps we need to start a new thread on panhanding, as I agree with many above that homelessness and panhanding are not always connected.
 
Today when I was standing waiting for a streetcar a business man asked me what time it was: i told him I refuse to give him the time of day for free!;) (Time is money...)

Coming soon to the streets: beggars hawking "free" cell phone calls. lol.

Everytime a suburbanite is killed on the streets of toronto by a homeless person, the Star goes nuts with articles. Who's the real beggar here? The Star begging for your hard-earned dollar (sob stories sell papers) or the street beggar begging for your spare dollar? The Toronto Star: a loonie paper that costs a loonie and is read by loonies and is built upon loonie stories!

My loonie theory of the day,

UrbanBeggar
 
this is my opinion of the 3 types of the street people based on my observations from 2+ years of By-Law enforcement in/around Calgarys core
(feel free to rip my observations apart if you see fit...)

There 3 types of street people:

1. Former mental health patients
people who are/have suffering from a mental ailment of some sort or another, and have been dumped onto the street due to lack of funding from the government, these people usually are institutionalized and are unable to function in society, these people are usually quite harmless.

2. the working poor
people like you and me who, cannot or barely afford to rent a apartment, and therefore rely on social supports like soup kitchens and shelters and social assistance, again these people are harmless.

3. the drifters/addicts
these are the people whom scare me the most, they always need money for whatever addiction they have, be it gambling, alcohol or drugs, these are usually what the aggressive panhandlers are, some of these people also drift from city to city living of the existing social nets. in these people in MY OPINION lie the greatest chance for violence.

again this is only based on my observation from what I've seen as a lowly street-level by-law officer, most street people I've met and talked to are good people. some just don't want to work, some can't work, I do concede that there is a growing portion the homeless that is growing violent. I just want to echo what others have said, if want to help, don't give to panhandlers, give to the salvation army or to the various drop in centres that do rely on the and charity of others to exist.
 
^You nailed the 3 types! I used to beg on the streets of vancouver (through sheer laziness and curiousity about how the "beggar system" worked (i lived with a bunch of x street people at the ivanhoe hostel)) and would agree with your assessment. I would say most of the addicts I knew came from good middle-upper class families, but due to a nasty divorce, an addiction or some traumatic event (car accident for eg) came to the streets to feed their problems. Some people just want to be free from responsibilites (I can relate) and like me, are true pioneering libertarians!

I wonder what the murder rate for the homeless is versus the "proper-housed" masses? I have a feeling the homeless overall commit fewer crimes.
 
Except you are a risk to life and limb, and someone loitering in a park is not. So you are much more dangerous to the general public.
 
Except you are a risk to life and limb, and someone loitering in a park is not. So you are much more dangerous to the general public.
Got me there.

Of course you never drive above 100 kph on the highway, come to a complete stop at every stop sign, never jay-walk, etc? IMO, we're all guilty of breaking the laws on a daily basis. Heck, right now I'm at my desk and should be working, so I'm likely guilty of theft of my employer's time right now.
 

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