Lifestyle: A helping hand?

Homeless people and panhandlers are a fact of life on the University's campus and at urban universities across the country. For some students, life in a city is a new reality, posing questions about how to deal with people who ask for spare change and the urban problems which accompany them. Some students continue walking when they are approached by one, others search for spare change, while still others begin chatting with people who ask them for money. Making a decision about whether or not to give money can be a complex one, with various groups and individuals speaking out on either side of this issue. One sign can be found on lampposts, doors and newspaper boxes around campus advising students not to give money. "STOP giving money to Panhandlers! Students, your naivete is destroying our neighborhoods," it reads. "Panhandlers do NOT want carfare, diapers, money for either food or housing," the sign continues. "Panhandlers want only one thing: Crack Cocaine." Peter Vaughan, acting dean of the School of Social Work, said the problem is not that easy to define. "Homelessness is a big issue," Vaughan said. "Many want to reduce it to people who need drugs and alcohol. This is a simplistic, mean-spirited approach by society. In the process, too often the victims get blamed as we blame the people on the street for their homelessness." Engineering freshman James Ingraham said he does not feel his spare change is used to support a drug addiction. "I don't always know what to do," Ingraham said. "I do know that one way or another, they do need to get food. If I can help, I'd like to. I'd hardly like to support a drug habit, but my spare change can't buy cocaine." Since his arrival on campus in September, Ingraham has befriended a man named Earl, who Ingraham says is homeless. "I like him and I trust him," he said. "I've never seen him drunk or on drugs and I've seen him at all hours unexpectedly. I try to help him out. I try to be nice to him." Marty Breme, manager of Trevor's Place, a Philadelphia homeless shelter, said students should not give panhandlers money. Instead, she encourages students to volunteer and donate to organizations that help the homeless. "Never give any money to people on the streets," Breme said. "They are really good at manipulating. Most on the streets aren't even homeless. They chose to panhandle and thus be on the streets." "There are lots of good organizations that are legitimately helping the homeless," he added. "Supporting them is the best way to help the homeless on the street." Paul O'Neill, the Eastern Pennsylvania Salvation Army spokesperson, said that organizations benefit two groups. "Number one, everybody gets a good, warm feeling that they're helping their fellow man," O'Neill said. "Number two, the homeless person, and child, in particular, gets a feeling that there are people that care. They remember that for a long time." O'Neill said that as the holidays approach, more and more volunteer projects start. Students can work kettles on street corners, volunteer at food banks and shelters, or get the name of a Philadelphia child from "an Angel Tree" and buy them a gift for the holidays. Vaughan still claims that, concerning the issue of to give or not to give, "there's no pat answer and I go in with lots of years of experience." Aside from the question of giving money, many other societal questions face students and the American public as the search for an end to homelessness continues. Robert Cardie, Newman Center assistant director, said he thinks the solution lies in "reaching out and reform." "We have to reach out to the homeless people where they're at right now," Cardie said. "And we also have to reform the structures of society that create homelessness." Beth Penders, Newman Center community outreach coordinator, said she agrees with Cardie. "A homeless person is a person," Penders, a College junior said. "Treat people with dignity and respect whatever your choice is. Don't just walk away." Raj George, chairperson of the Undergraduate Assembly community relations committee, said homeless people often have interesting stories to tell. "The most important thing is to sit and talk to the person as another human being," George, a College sophomore said. "Enjoy a conversation on a person-to-person level." O'Neill believes that in addition to treating the homeless with dignity, society must work on a long-term solution. "Help them out," he said. "Get them into drug rehab. Help them find permanent housing. Help them find work. Help to get them proud and dignified. It goes a long way . . . We're looking at the long term solutions." Former homeless people have both similar and differing ideas to solve the problem of homelessness. Rob Roberts said he was born in Abbington, Pa. in what he characterized as a "middle-class family." He says he has always worked, has never stolen anything and has never been in jail for "any reason whatsoever." "Through messing with drugs, I lost it all," he said in recounting how he became homeless. "With support, I have been able to get back up and I am no longer homeless. I am getting my life back together." In Roberts' opinion, people aren't looking at homelessness objectively. "What people need to do if they really want to help is not to look at one side of the story," Roberts, who visits campuses talking about his experiences, said. "Some people are homeless for reasons beyond their own control." "You are generalizing if you think everybody wants to be an addict," Roberts continued. "A lot of people out there really wish they had another way of dealing with it." Roberts emphasized looking at "the big picture." "If students at Penn came together to help these people out, they can get them off their campus," he said. "Take time to assist them by teaching them how to read. Give them a resource so that you empower them to create something of themselves." He compared this attitude to the adage, "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime." Roberts said he worries that "if people continue to think only about themselves, there will be an uproar [by the homeless] which makes Los Angeles look like a bonfire." Currently, Roberts is the editor of Shelter News and Views, a newsletter which goes to all the shelters in Philadelphia and said, "I can't see myself doing other work than I'm doing now." Pete Bradley, an area resident, was also homeless. Bradley said he moved out of his house when he was 15 years old. At 17, he was arrested for selling drugs and remained in jail for two and a half years. When he was released from jail his parents would not let him back in the house and he moved into a shelter in Upper Darby. "Living on the street is not a life to lead," he said. "When you hit the concrete, you know how it feels being cold." Unlike Roberts, Bradley said he believes that students can get involved in finding a solution to homelessness by joining grass-roots organizations, while volunteering or giving money. "There are not enough students in grass-roots organizations to change the issues on poverty," he said. "You can still volunteer, but play a more crucial role in grass-roots organizations . . . look at the long term. Help people get back on their feet permanently." Bradley now works at My Brother's House, a shelter in Philadelphia and is active in grass roots organizations throughout the area. Kathleen Sullivan, president of the Penn Volunteer Network, said solving the problem of homelessness is not as easy as simply deciding whether or not to give money to a homeless person. "We have to address the root concepts of homelessness -- the empowerment of the homeless to change the state of their lives," Sullivan said. "There's a myth in society that the homeless can't take jobs," Sullivan, a College senior, said. "The jobs just aren't there. We have to create them." PVN is sponsoring a Hunger and Homelessness Week, November 16 -- 20, the week prior to Thanksgiving. During the week speakers will talk about their experiences being homeless and myths and realities about homelessness. Among other activities, the movie "Takeover" will be shown and a sleep-out will be held on College Green. "These are all being held to call attention to the problem of homelessness," Sullivan said. According to O'Neill, there are between 13,000 and 17,000 homeless people in Philadelphia. Brumme said students need to do what is right. The important thing, he stressed, is to act. "We all need to use our gifts to solve these problems," he said. "It's a collective effort."