About a week ago, the local media began reporting on the new neon yellow "parking" meters that suddenly appeared around downtown Cleveland. But they aren't parking meters at all, they're the new "Change Where It Counts" meters installed to help decrease panhandling in the city. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance (along with the City of Cleveland, and the Downtown Faith-based Community) launched the campaign (called GeneroCity Cleveland) last October. What will start as approximately 15 meters will turn into 40 meters for "Change" in the downtown area. (Photo: Cleveland Change Meter, CASB © 2009).
The media has dutifully provided the pertinent information: that the money collected from the meters will go toward a program to provide the homeless with proper ID (i.e., birth certificates and Social Security cards), so they can qualify for social services; that the meters aren't meant to create a financial windfall, but rather, they are an attempt to enhance the pedestrian experience; and that they're designed to change people's attitudes toward giving away money.
But is it really changing anything (or is it still too soon to tell)? I think people look at the meters and think, "Huh. That's an interesting little idea" and keep walking. I think the people who don't give change will continue to not give change (to the meter or an actual person) and the people who do give change to the panhandlers would rather give change to an actual person as opposed to a meter. I can see a tourist or two popping in a spare quarter, but are the leaders of Cleveland more interested in changing the mentality of visitors OR the mentality of the people who move around the city on a daily basis (i.e., those who live and/or work here).
It appears that some of them are more interested in the visitors' perspectives (in the theory of cognition). The chairman of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance was reported as saying that the campaign is part of an initiative to make downtown Cleveland safer and more appealing to suburbanites and other visitors. He is also reported to have said that the meters will allow the public to still give money on the street, but to those who need it rather than the panhandlers. Really? You don't think a panhandler is really needy (ok, I admit that not ALL of them are -- like the the ones who make up stories about their car breaking down or just needing a little change to make a phone call, etc.)? The truly "street" homeless are the rock-bottom needy who feel the only option left is to swallow their pride and stick out their hand. Granted, it takes more humility to ask for help rather than simply asking for some spare change, but to say that the people sleeping on the sidewalk aren't actually needy is stretching it a bit, don't you think? One of the problems is that the powers-that-be behind this initiative are using the terms "homeless" and "panhandler" synonymously.
Look, it's a great idea. But I'm not sure there's enough happening behind the scene to make it worthwhile. I concede that this is still in the early stages, but -- for instance, check out the website associated with the meters, GeneroCity. I'm not quite sure what's going on here. The RTA donated a small bus that has been retrofitted (with the help of funds from the Cleveland Foundation) to shuttle the "homeless" to a shelter or to get the services they need. There will be a social worker on board to help facilitate these services. But here's where it gets tricky . . . under the "Rules of the Bus" tab on the website, Rule #1 reads, "Please schedule a request for a ride at least 24 hours in advance." I don't know many truly homeless people who have access to a telephone (or maybe people like me just aren't giving them the change to make the phone call). The only answer I can come up with is that the people calling will be those who are already staying at a shelter (or trying to avoid having to resort to a shelter). So will the bus still go around at random and approach the homeless people on the streets and offer to take them to the shelters? I think the sight of someone curled up in the corner of a vacant building with a styrophome cup set up next to him is much more upsetting (albeit less aggressive) than a random person approaching you on the street and spinning some tale of how they need just a couple of dollars to do X, Y or Z.
I'm not an investigative reporter, and I'm not pretending to be -- I don't have all of the facts. I just think that people would like to know a little more about how this is all really going to work out. THAT is what might actually encourage people to drop a little change in the meter. And if the endeavor is turning out to be more cumbersome than originally anticipated, then let's be sure not to let the meters turn into yet another rusted fixture in downtown Cleveland that silently reproaches its passersby for a failed attempt at something supportive of the city's 2nd renaissance.
And let's seriously consider the possibility that panhandlers might just camp out near the meters and hope to guilt contributors or would-be contributors into handing them the change instead.
"Change Starts Here," the meter also reads. But what's the next step . . .
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