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Help Homeless Individuals Don't Criminalize Them
1/24/2018 (Permalink)
The "There's a Better Way" pickup van!
For more info check out this video: https://youtu.be/WFmsOrTpKn8
Albuquerque, like most cities, faces the ongoing challenge of eradicating homelessness. It isn’t an easy problem to face, particularly when many ordinances passed by city council members try to solve the problem through negative reinforcement such as penalization, criminalization, and incarceration. There is an often overlooked, more challenging, yet more beneficial approach to this problem. Giving a helping hand, not just spare change, with the idea to uplift the homeless is the idea behind the “There’s a Better Way” initiative.
The “There’s a Better Way” initiative was formed in 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its mission statement is to “give panhandlers a chance at a change in life and provides caring members of our community with a better way to donate their money”. What’s even better is the action steps that are taken in progress of this mission statement. Signs are posted around major panhandling destinations to inform panhandlers of a way to contact someone who can assist them in finding work. Additionally, St. Martin’s branded “There’s a Better Way” van drives to areas frequented by panhandlers to inform them of how they can get temporary work (paying above minimum wage) to help them get back on their feet. This work comes in the form of assisting the City’s Solid Waste Department via landscape beautification and garbage removal. After their workday is completed they are picked up and taken to St. Martin’s to connect them with housing, a warm meal, employment opportunities, as well as mental health and social services.
This program has been such a positive reworking of how to tackle the issue of panhandling, that many other cities around the United States have begun similar initiatives. Some cities include:
- Denver
- Tuscon
- Chicago
- Portland, Maine
- Portland, Oregon
- Spokane, Washington
- Seattle
- Amarillo
- San Antonio
- Dallas
According to data collected by the City of Albuquerque, “There’s a Better Way” has provided 4,240 day jobs, helped house 21 homeless residents, and connected 414 people with continued work since its inception in 2015. This is just for the program in Albuquerque. Not only have the results been positive, the feedback has been well received.
The really disappointing part is the implementation of the Pedestrian Safety Ordinance (PSO); passed by the City Council on November 6th, 2017. This ordinance goes directly against the successful implementation of the “There’s a Better Way” program. The PSO goes in the direction of trying to criminalize panhandlers again instead of attempting to address the problem at its root in a helpful way. The PSO specifically bans “physical interaction or exchange with a pedestrian” at specific locations, such as street medians and highway entrances.
What’s even worse is that all of the cited research and data used to justify the implementation of the PSO, all predates the implementation of the innovative “There’s a Better Way” program. The very program that has earned the City of Albuquerque national praise as a forward thinking administration is potentially being undercut by this new legislation. Instead of building off recent successful legislation the city council is moving Albuquerque two steps backwards.
The positive thing to remember is that the “There’s a Better Way” program is still in effect today. If the Albuquerque community bands together to show strong support of this program we can still encourage progressive policies. I ask of you, if you are inspired to help, please donate your time as a volunteer or any amount of money that you can afford to St. Martin’s, Heading Home, Healthcare for the Homeless, The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, or the Barrett House. Each of these organizations is in some way involved with the “There’s a Better Way” program.
References: https://www.cabq.gov/family/theres-a-better-way