What's the best way we can help street beggars?

Question

For those who live in the city, we see street beggars almost everyday. We wanted to drop some coins but sometimes we woud dismiss the thought because we have a list of reasons why we shouldn't. Then how can we really help them have a better life other than giving them money? ...or should we even sacrifice our time to help them? Does it worth the effort?

Answer 1

I think the worst thing you can help street people is give them money.  If they are addicted to drugs or alcohol, they will use the money to feed their addiction.

Maybe a better solution would be a banana or an apple if you want to give food, or a bottle of fruit juice, or a sandwich.

You can help the homeless by volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen, donating toiletries or clothes to organizations that support the homeless.

I don't think most people who are homeless are homeless by choice.  People leave abusive spouses, they become evicted because they lost a job and have nowhere else to go, they are mentally ill, or they have drug and/or alcohol problems.  To solve the problem, you've got to help them get back on their feet and help them help themselves get clean and sober, get the counseling/medication they need, get marketable job skills and the means to become self-sustaining.

Answer 2

Make little baskets filled with a waterbottle, sandwitch, or whatever you want or give them some money. More and more people become homeless eveyday, but we can help.

Answer 3

As the days go by, jobs become more scarce, and wages diminish...more and more people are heading out of homes into the streets and camp grounds...some just living off lands in rural areas.

Beggers is not the word...it is demeaning.

Displaced persons is the real word.

We have people who used to earn six figure incomes being displaced...all the way down to those who never got pass their high school education.

It's the sign of the times.

Big guy has shot himself in the foot and in his desperation to try to make things better, he is using undergraduate intelligence to make matters worse for society.

If you don't place money into the economy...you don't get money out.

How do you get displaced persons off the streets and back into lifestyles they once flourished in?

Pay them...give them jobs.  Stop sending our work overseas to places that manufacture materials that poison our kids and actually adults too.  

Lower prices and housing costs to better reflect reality.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to turn this nations economy around...it takes banning greed and realizing compassion and integrity for all mankind.

Then again...a rich man has no understanding.

He can sit in a church pew...think he is being a 'good' person.  And one day the truth comes...oppression of the poor and the least of these...did not go unnoticed.  It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to get into heaven.  Denying heaven exists, doesn't make it reality.  Stupidity isn't an excuse.

Answer 4

well in my opinion,

if they really cared, and if they really wanted some money, then maybe they should seek some new clothes, maybe a razor, get a shower, and haircut, and get a job!

why should i give MY hard earned cash, that i have worked for, and have spent years at school working to get a degree, to someone who' s just out there begging?

Answer 5

an interesting observation, In Hong Kong, the presence of street beggars is very very low, actually I never once saw a person holding a sign on a corner or got hit up for money on the street, like i have stepping out of a grocery store in the USA.   Yet the signs of poverty are far more prevalent.    Street vendors are everywhere, selling plastic c**p to counterfeit dvds, handbags out of carts and tented shacks.  My working theory is that the government is so lenient to "small business" that you can find a job of some sort and you're expected to take care of yourself inspite of physical handicap, mental illness or otherwise.  I saw a crippled guy selling jade jewerly on the sidewalk.  

in the usa we call it blight to have street vendors.  I think it creates opportunity.

In america, we make it pretty hard on employers with lots of taxes, social security, L&I, discrimination suits and minimum wage.   the Starbucks legal battle over tip sharing in CA is a good example of laws that were well intended but don't really work fairly in everycase.

Answer 6

If ur  are  really interested in helping them. Can really help them.

then show them a way to earn money and have a living instead of putting them to begging for life time.

on the other hand for the ageds if u can show them old age homes. that will make a point for kids institutes that can help

last but not the least is stand by them and think what help would U like to get if; some one You loved was in that condition

Answer 7

I give them as much money as I can cause I know if they could do better they would. I treat them kind & they are so appreciative. It might not be safe for everyone to do this. There are organizations that go out & find these people & bring them food, safe needles,blankets & assistance. I don't much about this organizations but if you are interested in getting involved this is probably the best safest way to do something. I believe in teaching people there is a power within them guiding their life & we all have it & I believe in giving others hope. Not everyone on the street is a hurting as some who have homes so I don't judge anyone by appearences. The Salvation Army has a mentors program & they can help you get a start in helping & then as you go along you will learn more. I wish you the best of everything!

Answer 8

They are there because they want to be, these people are such lowlifes and scum, that hey have burned every bridge and now no friends or family will even let them sleep on a couch...

Nothing you can do is going to change that.

Answer 9

I would not give them money, I would give them lunch sacks containing drinks(non-alcoholic) and some healthy snacks. Possibly some beef jerky and/or a sandwich. And then I would put  a little note in there saying something encouraging.

Street beggars are common in the world, we should be very concerned about taking care of our own.

Every homeless person has their own story. They are not all drug users. A lot of them are sad or depressed because they have lost their job, family, etc.

Answer 10

The best thing you can do would be to not give them anything. That way they would be forced to get a real job. This would help them in the best possible way.

Answer 11

The economy is going from bad to worse, the bum on the street could be you or I with one decision by a guy in a suit, a natural disaster, or sudden illness....it is our duty to be compassionate, however we can help fill the need of each individual.