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Real face of homelessness in Anchorage does not live on a street corner

I make my living by helping people. So you can imagine the internal conflict that arises every time I stop at an intersection in Midtown Anchorage. Panhandlers with cardboard signs are a common sight there these days. I've even taken to giving them nicknames. There is "The Gang of Five" who hang out in the vicinity of Benson and Minnesota. There is "Lonesome Joe" in front of the Barnes and Noble at Northern Lights and C Street. "Tom and Jerry" are usually seen at Northern Lights and Gambell.

Their methods are simple and surprisingly effective. A black Sharpie, a piece of cardboard, some old clothes and a woeful look are all you need to get started. One day, I saw an able-bodied fellow on the street corner, so I asked him if he was interested in a job at the church. "Why would I want to do that?!" he asked incredulously. "I can make more money doing this!"

It's true. Depending on the location, a sidewalk panhandler can make well over $200 a day, tax free. While the Gang of Five seems to have a drinking problem, most of the others on the Northern Lights-Benson corridor do not. Nor are most of them destitute and homeless. They are simply making a living off of the generosity of others.

Their antics take me back to when I lived in Rome in the mid-1990s. Every day on my way home, I would stop and chat with an old gypsy woman named Anastasia. Anastasia had been a beggar all of her life and she was extremely skilled at her craft. Some days, she would have one of the babies from the gypsy camp on her lap. Other days, she would moan just loud enough so passersby could hear. One day, she had a sign that said, "Please help. I am a refugee from Bosnia."

"So you're from Bosnia today," I said to her.

"Yes," she said, matter-of-factly. "It's better for business."

Such blatant deceit is part and parcel of the panhandling business. The only exception I can recall was the fellow by the Red Apple in Mountain View whose sign boldly proclaimed: "I won't lie. I need beer!" What an amateur. A good panhandler can lie in such a way that even though you know he's pulling your leg, you can't help but admire his creativity. Sometimes you even reward him for it. Therein lies the problem.

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Such deceit is frustrating for social service agencies that serve those who are actually in need. Susan Bomalaski, executive director of Catholic Social Services, told me that the need is great and those who give to panhandlers aren't doing anybody any favors. Homelessness and hunger are real problems in Anchorage, but the homeless are not always who we think they are. Bomalaski says that if you count all the categories of homelessness in Anchorage, in 2011 there were 1,580 homeless individuals, but 2,157 homeless persons in families with children. "More persons in families with children than individuals are homeless," she points out. "These families are the hidden face of homelessness."

The numbers are staggering. Last year at Clare House, the CSS long-term shelter for homeless mothers with children, 430 individuals utilized 15,167 bed nights. Brother Francis Shelter, the much larger facility for individuals, provided 102,174 bed nights for 3,781 homeless men and women while serving 73,561 meals. St. Francis House, the CSS food pantry, served 13,423 individuals last year by distributing 518,627 pounds of food.

The food pantry is important in preventing homelessness. "Most of the families who use our food pantry are less than one paycheck away from homelessness," says Bomalaski. "By the end of the month, they simply don't have enough money to pay the rent and also to buy food." The food pantry helps them make ends meet and keeps a roof over their heads.

All well and good, but these are just three programs of one agency out of dozens of charitable organizations and churches that serve the homeless and hungry in Anchorage. It seems to me that we need to seriously rethink how our society allocates resources so that we can better acknowledge the real face of homelessness in Anchorage. It certainly isn't found on a street corner.

When asked about the best way to deal with street corner panhandlers, Bomalaski is direct: "Panhandlers are best served when donations are directed towards the agencies that assist these individuals. Even pulling into a parking lot and handing the individual either food or money reinforces the panhandling behavior and does not encourage people to make real change in their lives. If you must give, then give food but prepare to be rebuffed, it is money they want despite what the sign may say."

Rev. Leo A. Walsh is pastor at St. Benedict Parish in Anchorage and vocations director for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. He was born and raised in Anchorage and is a rugby referee, nationally certified beer judge and licensed private pilot.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

Leo Walsh

Rev. Leo Walsh is pastor at St. Benedict Parish in Anchorage and vocations director for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. He was born and raised in Anchorage and is a rugby referee, nationally certified beer judge, and licensed private pilot.

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