Spare Change?

Sometimes I do, but most of the time I don’t. It would be impossible to count the number of cases of someone on the street, or a visitor to my office, who asked me for money. There were some folks I saw almost every day on the streets of Washington, DC when I worked there. It seemed they didn’t remember me from one day to the next, but the requests were steady. In another town, a man showed up at my office twice in a span of a few months and told me the exact same story of how he was passing through town and ran out of gas. When I pointed out that we were rehashing past events, he simply stood up and left.

On occasion I have handed over some money to panhandlers, but those occasions were rare. I’m not sure why in those cases I even gave them something, but I did.

Most of the time, if someone comes to the church office, I refer them to helping agencies in the community, those supported by our church offerings as well as others. My thought is the help they need is best found there.

A priest in Los Angeles, The Rev. Maurice Chase, yesterday celebrated his 90th birthday by doing something that is not unusual for him. He went to Skid Row and handed out money to people there. In fact, he gave out $15,000, including $100 each to twenty people in wheelchairs.

“This is the Lord's work,” Chase said as he shuffled along the motley assemblage watched over by police officers. “I come out here to tell them that God loves them and I love them, that someone is concerned about them.”

For the past two dozen years, Chase regularly handed out money on a street corner in the same neighborhood. "It's the place that makes me the happiest. I just love it," said Chase. "I look forward to coming here." The money was given to Loyola Marymount University when Chase worked there. Well-heeled donors made the contributions, but it isn’t clear how Chase obtained and maintains control over the funds.

He is loved for his beneficence, though. “He's got a heart,” said a 56-year-old woman who sleeps on the sidewalk when she can't find a shelter bed. “I never saw anyone like him. Some people are generous, but this guy ... I can't even describe it.”

The debate, in my mind, centers around whether handing out a couple of bucks to someone makes any meaningful difference. Many people are skeptical, assuming the cash is used for non-essentials such as alcohol, cigarettes, and even drugs. Wouldn’t it be better to support compassionate helping organizations that address deeper needs, like safe shelter, adequate food, health screening and care, and job training, etc.?

It depends on who you ask, I guess. The late homeless advocate Mitch Snyder, a formerly familiar face to Washington-types, both on the street and in plush offices, used to say that if someone asks for money, give the person money. It wasn’t our privilege or responsibility to decide what was right for someone else’s life.

True, but how does that balance with faithful stewardship of one’s resources? How does it relate to compassion and social justice?

My experience is many people of faith wrestle with these issues.

One thing is certain, though: God’s love is given to each person. How we are to express that love remains a complex issue.