Several years ago Joanne and I were walking down the sidewalk to a restaurant in Atlanta, GA. A street vendor approached us with a newspaper “for sale.” I gave him $2.00 and we continued down the sidewalk. I laughed when in the next block we saw a dispensing box with the same paper – free for the taking. But I admired the salesman for creating a little business nonetheless.
Now in Nashville there is a similar legitimate program. Homeless people are given 15 copies of The Contributor
at no charge. They can sell those for $1.00 each and then return to buy more copies at $.25 each. They are trained how to sell these for $1.00 and agree to not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol while selling.
Lisa Graham will tell you just how far a $1 newspaper can take a person. “It has allowed me to put a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my belly. That’s a pretty basic improvement from being homeless,” said Graham. She is one of 400 Contributor vendors. 35 to 38 percent of the vendors are no longer homeless because of their job selling The Contributor.
We know most programs designed to “help” the homeless do little to move them out of homelessness. Recipients of the many handouts feel debilitated and helpless, beholden to outsiders to bail them out time and time again. They feel lessened and weak, knowing they have to exhibit these very characteristics in order to receive the “free” help. Relief is short-lived, and those on both sides of the transaction feel ineffective.
We need more creative ideas that provide opportunities, not hand-outs. In your own giving, how are you creating opportunities rather than enabling helplessness?
