Early last week, Dive In reported that Hillsborough County has recently assembled a committee aimed at resolving the growing issue of panhandling in the urban areas of Tampa. (Read the full blog post here.)
The committee, which has only had one meeting at this time, has not yet arrived at a permanent solution but they are prepared to address the issue and possible solutions. Apparently Tampa is not alone in their fight against panhandling.
A committee in Orlando is working on solving the same problem and has come up with a unique solution to cleaning up their streets.
The City of Orlando is set to move forward with a plan to install “homeless meters” near spots frequently filled with panhandlers. “Homeless meters” are versions of a parking meters which allow people to deposit their spare change into a mechanism along busy sidewalks and streets, instead of handing the money over to a person.
The City will collect the money from the machines and donate it to a nonprofit group designated to help the homeless.
Does this sound like a solution?
Click here to read the full article published by the Orlando Sentinel.
Julia Stander says
Interesting idea but certainly won’t help solve the problem. Not sure people would use the meters either, they certainly don’t have the emotional impact of seeing a live person. Typically its a numbers game for the panhandlers…they play on the emotions of a giver at a moment in time and it becomes a spontaneous gesture. If I’m going to give knowing its going to go to a non-profit…I would rather choose where it goes instead and I think the meters would be subject to vandalism.
There’s no real solution to the panhandling until there are more real jobs that come into the area.