New campaign aims to end panhandling
A battle of cardboard signs is about to begin on the streets of downtown Lincoln.
Some you’ve seen: “Homeless, need help. God bless.”
Others started popping up Tuesday and already have raised a few eyebrows: “I didn’t need your money, I just needed a change.”
Take note, charitable Nebraskans: Those new signs are part of a campaign launched by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Downtown Lincoln Association asking you to re-think the way you give.
The project, dreamed up by a group of UNL advertising students, asks the public to stop giving spare change to the homeless and instead direct money to agencies like the People’s City Mission.
Their argument: A few dollars here and there can’t fix chronic homelessness. Professional agencies — with access to substance abuse and alcohol counseling, job training and more — can.
And their goal: To end panhandling and help the homeless get off the streets.
“(Homelessness) only gets worse when people give money,” said Todd Ogden, a senior advertising and political science major at UNL who’s leading the campaign.
“When you give money (to panhandlers), you don’t know where it’s going to go … We don’t want to discourage people from giving. We just want people to know giving money to agencies is the better option.”
Ogden will spend the week distributing promotional posters and brochures throughout downtown. He’ll also set up “shadow people” — life-size, faceless human silhouettes holding the new cardboard signs.
The cutouts are meant to represent former panhandlers who got back on track thanks to donations to charitable agencies, he said.
Ogden had a bit of a disappointing start Tuesday: Hours after he set up the first “shadow person” near Douglas Theatre Co. at 201 N. 13th St., it vanished, presumably stolen by angry or mischievous passers-by.
The remaining five shadow figures, Ogden said, will be strapped to benches, making such theft more difficult.
“Hopefully, whoever took it is setting it up somewhere else,” he said good-naturedly.
Panhandling has been a consistent problem downtown and worsens in the summer as warm weather draws people outside, said Susanne Blue, executive director of Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach.
Campus, too, is especially vulnerable, as young students generally show more compassion toward the homeless, Blue said.
Lincoln has some 1,600 homeless people, she said, about 50 of whom are chronically homeless, meaning they’ve had no permanent address for a year or more.
Those 50, Blue said, are particularly vulnerable.
Many suffer from mental illness, drug addiction or alcohol abuse. Many have little or no family or support system to lean on.
“These are the ones who have really fallen through the cracks.”
Pocket change, she said, is not what they need.
“A little bit of change here or there isn’t really doing anything to help the individual make changes,” she said. “It’s just a very temporary fix or a Band-Aid, if you will.
“They need meals, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, shelter ... Sometimes giving them a little bit here, a little bit there, is just keeping them on the street.”
Not everyone agrees.
Blue admits she’s been hit with a bit of skepticism from people wondering whether the project could actually make a difference.
And at least one UNL English professor calls the campaign “horrifying and demeaning” to the homeless, several of whom she counts among her closest friends.
“They were really upset and hurt,” said professor Fran Kaye. “And rightly so.”
Kaye said she’s offended by the “shadow people,” saying they imply the homeless are second-class citizens.
“They’re not shadows. They’re real people,” she said. “It’s like my own family being told they’re not human.
“I just think the whole premise is wrong-headed.”
Ogden says his intent isn’t to offend. Rather, he wants to give hope to homeless people who might not think they can change.
He said he’s talked to many homeless people who “want this to happen more than anybody.”
“These guys, they don’t want this image. A lot of homeless people are trying,” he said. “It’s all about hope. We’re definitely not trying to be disrespectful.”
Kaye isn’t convinced. The university, she said, must work harder to embrace diversity.
And she believes those who don’t stop to spare some change could be missing out on valuable friendships.
“If you give someone a sandwich one time, give them some money one time, have a conversation one time and get to know them, it might change their life,” she said. “And it will sure as hell change yours.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
Some you’ve seen: “Homeless, need help. God bless.”
Others started popping up Tuesday and already have raised a few eyebrows: “I didn’t need your money, I just needed a change.”
Take note, charitable Nebraskans: Those new signs are part of a campaign launched by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Downtown Lincoln Association asking you to re-think the way you give.
The project, dreamed up by a group of UNL advertising students, asks the public to stop giving spare change to the homeless and instead direct money to agencies like the People’s City Mission.
Their argument: A few dollars here and there can’t fix chronic homelessness. Professional agencies — with access to substance abuse and alcohol counseling, job training and more — can.
And their goal: To end panhandling and help the homeless get off the streets.
“(Homelessness) only gets worse when people give money,” said Todd Ogden, a senior advertising and political science major at UNL who’s leading the campaign.
“When you give money (to panhandlers), you don’t know where it’s going to go … We don’t want to discourage people from giving. We just want people to know giving money to agencies is the better option.”
Ogden will spend the week distributing promotional posters and brochures throughout downtown. He’ll also set up “shadow people” — life-size, faceless human silhouettes holding the new cardboard signs.
The cutouts are meant to represent former panhandlers who got back on track thanks to donations to charitable agencies, he said.
Ogden had a bit of a disappointing start Tuesday: Hours after he set up the first “shadow person” near Douglas Theatre Co. at 201 N. 13th St., it vanished, presumably stolen by angry or mischievous passers-by.
The remaining five shadow figures, Ogden said, will be strapped to benches, making such theft more difficult.
“Hopefully, whoever took it is setting it up somewhere else,” he said good-naturedly.
Panhandling has been a consistent problem downtown and worsens in the summer as warm weather draws people outside, said Susanne Blue, executive director of Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach.
Campus, too, is especially vulnerable, as young students generally show more compassion toward the homeless, Blue said.
Lincoln has some 1,600 homeless people, she said, about 50 of whom are chronically homeless, meaning they’ve had no permanent address for a year or more.
Those 50, Blue said, are particularly vulnerable.
Many suffer from mental illness, drug addiction or alcohol abuse. Many have little or no family or support system to lean on.
“These are the ones who have really fallen through the cracks.”
Pocket change, she said, is not what they need.
“A little bit of change here or there isn’t really doing anything to help the individual make changes,” she said. “It’s just a very temporary fix or a Band-Aid, if you will.
“They need meals, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, shelter ... Sometimes giving them a little bit here, a little bit there, is just keeping them on the street.”
Not everyone agrees.
Blue admits she’s been hit with a bit of skepticism from people wondering whether the project could actually make a difference.
And at least one UNL English professor calls the campaign “horrifying and demeaning” to the homeless, several of whom she counts among her closest friends.
“They were really upset and hurt,” said professor Fran Kaye. “And rightly so.”
Kaye said she’s offended by the “shadow people,” saying they imply the homeless are second-class citizens.
“They’re not shadows. They’re real people,” she said. “It’s like my own family being told they’re not human.
“I just think the whole premise is wrong-headed.”
Ogden says his intent isn’t to offend. Rather, he wants to give hope to homeless people who might not think they can change.
He said he’s talked to many homeless people who “want this to happen more than anybody.”
“These guys, they don’t want this image. A lot of homeless people are trying,” he said. “It’s all about hope. We’re definitely not trying to be disrespectful.”
Kaye isn’t convinced. The university, she said, must work harder to embrace diversity.
And she believes those who don’t stop to spare some change could be missing out on valuable friendships.
“If you give someone a sandwich one time, give them some money one time, have a conversation one time and get to know them, it might change their life,” she said. “And it will sure as hell change yours.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.
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