Harvard Square businesses install tablets to collect for homeless
bostonglobe.com
bostonglobe.com
As an alternative to giving to the homeless directly.
(Oh my will this ever be misconstrued!)
> "The problem is, people throw change in the cup but can’t really know where it’s going," she said. "A lot of times, that money is used for illicit behavior, whether its drugs or alcohol. But by giving to the agencies, we can make sure homeless get the care they need in a transparent, trackable way."
This sounds great.
Though I'm OK with giving to homeless people knowing they'll spend it on things like cigarettes. I don't think its useful to deride them for that. I'm fortunate enough to enjoy much more complicated and expensive pleasures, I would hate to deny anyone their own sources of pleasure and anxiety relief.
(of course addiction is another issue altogether, and isn't limited to the homeless).
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On a slightly related note, the Salvation Army bell-ringers seem much more obnoxious to me than actual homeless people when it comes to begging. I would be much more inclined to give to a monk-like figure merely sitting than someone clamoring away (in what I perceive as disrespectful noise-making for the sake of attention).
The iPad giving sounds like a good idea, but I agree with Livney, I hope people don't use it as another way to avoid human contact. Even when I don't give to beggars (which is most of the time), I look people in the eye and say, "I'm sorry, I don't have any," and genuinely wish them luck. I've NEVER had a negative response from that, and mostly very positive results - "Thank you, that's ok, have a good evening, god bless" etc. I can only imagine how much it sucks to be treated like a non-entity all day, regardless of why you're there.
Sometimes it's best to think: There but by the grace of god go I. (Uncapitalized cuz I don't believe in anything, but the sentiment is a powerful one.) We don't know sometimes how just one little bit of turned luck could have landed us in their position. Sure, individual initiative and blah blah is great… or is that just an excuse we give ourselves for not caring?
Consequently, I don't think any extra-governmental system would be sufficient to fix the homeless problem. There needs to be federal-level support, and a comprehensive support system that provides either reintegration support, or longterm care to those who need it.
http://bostinno.com/2013/03/01/leaf-harvard-square-donations...