Want to stop begging in Louisville? Start paying panhandlers

Walk a mile downtown at lunchtime and you might get hit up for spare change a half dozen times.

The panhandlers have gotten so brazen that they’ll often grab a table and chair outside a Fourth Street restaurant and beg as people walk past. 

Pull off an interstate anywhere in Jefferson County and you’re likely as not to see a man, or less frequently, a woman, with a piece of corrugated cardboard where they’ve scrawled, “HUNGRY, PLEASE HELP!” or such a message.

You won’t find that in Lexington. At least not as often.

That wasn’t the case a year or so ago, before the city, working in conjunction with a day shelter, started taking panhandlers off the street and paying them cash to work.

The success the city has had has even surprised Steve Polston, who founded the day-shelter for the homeless that runs the program for the city.

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"We've taken about 85 percent of the panhandlers off the street," said Polston, who still seems somewhat in disbelief about how well it works. 

Lexington had a really bad problem with panhandling after the Kentucky Supreme Court struck down a city law in February of 2017 that prohibited people from soliciting on street corners. Word spread to surrounding communities that the Lexington police couldn’t arrest people, and the city was suddenly inundated by homeless people.

One nearby community even closed a shelter because the need no longer existed, Polston said.

That’s when Lexington’s mayor, Jim Gray, asked Polston to get involved. He sent Polston and others to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where that city had begun a program in which they hired panhandlers to pick up trash on roadsides, cut weeds, that sort of thing.

Polston had his doubts — it was a huge problem in Lexington.

Most days, they were counting between 130 and 170 panhandlers on Lexington streets. There’s no way they could hire enough people — and pay enough — to get a significant number of panhandlers off the street.

But it turns out, they didn’t have to.

Three days a week, the shelter sends a van to spots where panhandlers routinely work and they offer them work — five hours at $9 per hour, with small bonuses for the most productive workers. Polston said he’ll hire 10 or 11 people most days.

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When the program started in May of last year — just a month or so after Polston visited New Mexico — they combined it with a public service announcement campaign that urged people not to give to panhandlers. They noted that anyone can find meals at homeless shelters and that some now can find work that will give them cash. 

"We got the word out that you're not feeding them, you're feeding their habit," Polston said. 

The city provided the shelter with an old van that has been painted with the words "End Panhandling Now" and provides the New Life Day Center with $100,000 a year to run the program. Supporters also donate about $20,000 a year to operate it, Polston said. 

What happened, said Polston, is that the amount panhandlers could earn on the street quickly dropped from about $70 per day to about $20. That meant many of the panhandlers just left town. 

Many of those still in Lexington were more than happy to make $45 per day picking up trash on the side of roads and cleaning up homeless camp sites. 

Robert Eads, a former electrician who has been living on the street for 11 years, tries to get on the van about twice a week. 

"I'd much rather be doing this," he said. "This is guaranteed money. it's not guaranteed money when you're flying a sign."

Jennifer Pribble has been living on the streets for about five years following a divorce. She said it's difficult to find work when you don't have an address, and panhandling is so inconsistent that she looks for chances to take part in the program. 

She said she uses the money to buy food or wash clothes or sometimes to "buy a new outfit." But the most important thing: "It helps with your hygiene because there are things you can't get out here without cash," she said. 

William Bennett, who is African-American, said he would much rather work because he rarely makes as much panhandling as he takes in picking up trash — though he said white panhandlers often make more. 

"We're still in the 1960s in this town," he said. 

Jarrod Jones, a retired Lexington police officer who drives the van, said he's only had to fire one person for not working and has only had about 20 people refuse the work. 

Polston said the most recent count of panhandlers, done at 30 locations where panhandlers are known to work, found just 16 people begging for money. 

Jean Porter, a spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer, said the city doesn't have statistics on panhandling, but there is a perception that it's on the rise here. 

She said the city is about to begin an effort to deal with the issue, which she said is "complex and multifaceted." Later this month, the city will convene a group of experts and those who deal with poverty and other issues that are tied to panhandling, she said. 

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Louisville Metro Council member David Yates has begun pushing for a program like Lexington's.

Maria Price, executive director of the St. John's Center for Homeless Men in Louisville, said there is no program in Louisville designed to put cash in the hands of the homeless. 

She said St. John's works to find permanent employment and housing for people, but a segment of the homeless population isn't ready for that kind of responsibility. While she said she doesn't know enough about the Lexington program to endorse it, Price said it's worth looking into. 

"I believe there is a place for programs like the one in Lexington," Price said. 

Joseph Gerth's opinion column runs on most Sundays and at various times throughout the week. He can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/josephg.