Panhandlers Beg the Question

How Can We Help Homeless in a Substantial Way?

A few days later, a woman named Lonnie stood in his place with a sign that read, "Have seizures. Homeless and hungry." She uses handouts to buy butane for the space heater in her van, and bread and cheese to eat. "A lot of people don't realize," she said, "that cheese will last quite a few days without going bad."

Goleta mom Sheryl Stratman makes a habit of helping people on the streets. She stops to talk to them and find out what they need. Sometimes it's a burger from Jack in the Box, sometimes it's hair clips. She invited five homeless men to her home last Thanksgiving. In December, she spent an hour panhandling outside of Kmart just to see what it felt like. "One college girl gave me a dollar and everyone else ignored me," she said. "It was horrible. I cried for the last half hour because I was so sad at how rejected and embarrassed I felt."

Indeed, said Gary Linker, director of the New Beginnings Counseling Center, which works with people living in vehicles. "It's really painful to be ignored. Almost every homeless person I've ever talked with appreciates when people acknowledge them," he said, even if it's just to look them in the eye and say, "I hope things get better for you."

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