The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Everyone’s got a story’
Panhandlers talk about how they cope
NEW HAVEN — The driver rolled up to the corner of South Frontage Road and College Street in a white car, passing the Alexion building in the low, strong light of the early morning sun.
Deidre Gonzalez, noting there was condensation on the car’s hood, waved at the driver and said it was likely she needed to see a mechanic, as the engine might be overheating.
The woman drove off. Gonzalez picked up her sign and went back to asking folks for help, waiting to see whether the next car
would offer a helping hand, or abuse.
“It sucks (to be out here). It really sucks,” said Gonzalez. “It takes a lot out of me emotionally.”
Panhandling is a longstanding feature of urban life, both in the Elm City and beyond. Officials here announced they were pursuing a novel way to address it in December 2016.
Now, as ordinances specifically banning the practice are struck down across the country — and people on the street, each with their own story, continue to seek money and aid — city officials are considering expanding the “Give Change to Make Change” program.
The “Give Change to Make Change” meters, an initiative adopted in a few American cities, allow people to donate money directly to social programs instead of people on the street.
In the last twoplus years, officials said the city has collected only $1,405 through the meters, monies designated to fund services in the city, such as the outreach, counseling and referral program Liberty Community Services runs through the New Haven Public Library.
Doug Hausladen, director of transportation, traffic and parking for the city, maintains that the amount collected is in line with expectations, as the meters were projected to bring in $1,000 to $2,000 per year.
Hausladen said the meters are designed to discourage panhandling by diminishing its earning potential and offer an alternative for people who may be uncomfortable giving directly to people on the street, but would like to help in some way.
Government officials are limited in their ability to regulate panhandling. The practice is legal, considered a form of speech protected by the First Amendment under modern legal thought. Ordinances specifically constraining the practice have been struck down in recent years.
Raising awareness
But New Haven police Lt. Sean Maher, district manager for downtown and Wooster Square, said officers are called to deal with “aggressive panhandling” — i.e., a panhandler grabbing someone or following them down the street — as it can verge into disorderly conduct, harassment or breach of peace. Exact numbers of arrests for these incidents were not available.
Maher said he and Win Davis, executive director of the Town Green District, are considering expanding the “Give Change to Make Change” effort to downtown businesses in order to expand the fundraising effort and bolster awareness in the city.
“The idea is to raise money but also the conversation around homelessness,” said Maher. “(Raising awareness in this way) brings more people into thinking about the issues at hand.”
Both Davis and Maher said donations to panhandlers do not always improve their quality of life and instead can feed addiction or alcoholism.
Funding service agencies instead of specific panhandlers, Maher said, could present a longterm solution to what brings people onto the street.
Davis said the program can be improved and expanded, offering an educational opportunity for residents about the social services available in New Haven.
He said it is important to treat panhandlers with dignity. Officials with the Town Green District often speak with wouldbe panhandlers — the group reported 3,199 “panhandling interventions” in 2018, according to their annual report — and try to connect them with services, he said.
“It’s really important that everybody be treated with respect,” said Davis. “That’s something we strive for.”
Tough life
According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, there were 503 people experiencing homelessness in New Haven on Jan. 22, 2019, including 98 children.
The Yale Daily News, citing estimates from sources, reported there were from 20 to 25 regular panhandlers in the city in 2016.
Gonzalez, John Kennedy, Demetrius Hyman Jr. and Howard Myers Jr. were at the corner of the Alexion building on a recent morning, taking turns asking for money. None of them wanted to be there; all said they had to be.
Kennedy said he grew up in Milford. He expected to inherit his grandmother’s house and build a life around it. But she instead offered it to his aunt and uncle, who were struggling with drugs, and that possibility faded away. He moved to Vermont, got and lost a job there, and came back to the streets of New Haven.
He said through panhandling he was seeking the common comforts of life — the chance to buy a meal, instead of going to a soup kitchen, and warm up — and the financial foundation he needs to move forward.
Kennedy said there are ethics of panhandling, as he sees it: It’s not OK to knock on people’s windows, to step beyond the request for help or make the interaction uncomfortable or threatening. He watches out for people, both passersby and the homeless folks he knows, while on the corner. Over time, he strives to build ties with the community — drivers recognize him, church groups offering care packages know where he’ll be — and he keeps his actions polite and appropriate.
“You’ve got to be a humble person if you’re in this field,” said Kennedy. “It’s a person’s choice whether they choose to give.”
But that respect should go both ways, he said.
Kennedy said he had been arrested multiple times for panhandlingassociated offenses — disorderly conduct, primarily — even though the charges, in his view, were at best arbitrary, based on minor issues while significant problems go unaddressed, levied depending on which officer came through and their view of panhandling. People had been abusive and mean to him, even though he strove to be pleasant.
But there’s no reason to be harsh, Kennedy said. The practice of panhandling isn’t enough to warrant abuse.
“We’re smiling; we’re being polite; we’re being nice — it’s one thing if we’re not,” said Kennedy. “It’s all about how you hold yourself . ... It should be no different than anything else.”
Kennedy said the alternative — the shelter system — had not proven helpful for him. There’s risk in going to a shelter, as well as monetary cost, and he doesn’t want to have to guard against people stealing his things, as has happened in the past.
He said his mother had given him a Zippo lighter before she died; it was confiscated at a shelter, and lost to him forever.
Demetrius Hyman Jr. offered a vision for a system that would help.
When he was in Miami, he said, he was able to attend a shelter that offered connections to jobs, longerterm housing, food and clothing. He later came to New Haven, lost his home after being involved in an altercation, and believes that the shelters here offer shorterterm accommodations and less support.
Hyman called for more affordable housing in New Haven. He’s been saving his money — panhandling was a job to him, he said, that carries indignities like other professions — and would like to move into a new place. But he, like many others, needs time to sock away money, then find a home he can afford.
“I want to be in my own place,” said Hyman. “Lowincome housing is a basic need for everybody.”
Gonzalez said she had been living with her mother, but they were evicted, and she ended up on the street in Waterbury. She then lost touch with her mother; her relationship with her husband ended. She came to New Haven for medical care, met people in the panhandling community, and took up the practice.
She said she would like to be treated with respect. She brought up the example of a police officer, who she said told her that she was both breaking the law and putting herself at risk by standing on the median at a highway, then offered a warning instead of arresting her. Another bought her breakfast and offered her $20. But others push her away from the corners, threatening to charge her with disorderly conduct, she said.
Gonzalez said that some people are nice when she’s panhandling, offering a kind word, a snack, a cup of coffee.
Others tell her harshly to get a job, even though she’s searching.
She’d like more walkin interviews, rather than hoping for a call back and an appointment. She has experience in retail, but would like to be a barista, she said.
“I would say 90 percent of us don’t want to be out here,” said Gonzalez. “Please don’t make (this) time any harder than it already is . ... Remember everyone’s got a story — some harder than others, but everyone’s got a story.”
Myers said he was from New Haven originally. He was struggling with a drug treatment program, then lost family members, which put him on the street. He said he’s been panhandling for approximately three years, meeting and watching his classmates from his school days go by.
His feet hurt; it’s hard to find a place to use the restroom, to take care of basic needs. He’s a mechanic by trade and would like to work in the field. But it’s difficult for him to look presentable for an interview while living on the streets — he was bundled against the cold on this recent morning, with a heavy beard. And he needs the money, as he has a 13yearold daughter to support.
“I have no choice but to hold a sign,” said Myers.
He asked people to consider the fragility of a comfortable life. If you’re laid off, if you get sick, you can be on the street quickly.
“It can be them at any moment,” said Myers.
A different life
Gary Rogers was not on that corner on the recent day. He now has his own place and a job in a State Street restaurant. But for years, he was in a similar situation.
Rogers said he came to New Haven with his mother, who was waiting for a kidney transplant. Housing was available for her in the city, but not for him — he became homeless, then turned to panhandling.
He said some people were quick to call the police for harassment, even if he just calmly asked for money. Others were generous, including offering food, which he would accept. He had no particular issues with police; some officers were rude, but most would just tell him and other panhandlers to
stay calm.
He said he was depressed — “hurting” — during that time in his life. Panhandling was never something he wanted to do, but something he needed to do.
“Just survival — I was up here alone and by myself,” said Rogers. “I was just trying to survive.”
The issue for panhandlers, he said, is the difficulty of scraping together enough money to get everything you need to look for a job and build a stable life. You need a place to stay, the chance to clean up, appropriate clothes — that takes a nest egg.
While the common perception is that panhandlers are just struggling with drugs and alcohol, the truth is more complex, Rogers said — some people have PTSD; others are struggling with mental health issues. Some are lonely in the world, without a family to turn to for help. One woman, the closest thing to a professional he encountered, panhandled to interact with people socially.
Rogers said he’d like to see the money from the meters go to establish an allencompassing program to provide housing, first and foremost, then clothes, bus passes and temporary employment, with staffers to help, and checking in on residents as they move through the process, step by step.
“It’s a very rough situation (to be down and out),” said Rogers. “You have to have a strong will do make it work and a lot of people out there don’t have that . ... It’s very rough to get a good start.”
There are resources available in the city, but Rogers said too many agencies offered him referrals, instead of concrete help. There are shelters, but they’re only open overnight, which makes it hard to use them as a home base to build on.
Without help, it’s very difficult to get on your feet, he said.
He credited Hausladen, among others, for lending him that hand.
“They helped me to get stable,” said Rogers. “Without that, I probably would still be out there . ... You need someone on your side to lift you up if you’re really down.”