Fresh Loaf

If Atlanta only had a few more "giving meters" the homeless problem would go away.

Remember the homeless pay “giving” meters the city installed downtown to discourage panhandling? They’re not working out too well.

From the Associated Press:

Six months after Atlanta business leaders set up parking meter-like machines to accept spare change donations and discourage panhandling, just $500 has been deposited – not much help for beggars who say they can sometimes raise $300 in a day on their own.

Despite the program’s dismal beginnings, Atlanta leaders are encouraged. They are installing more of the “giving meters” and using signs to make more people aware of the machines. In other cities, like Denver, thousands of dollars have been raised to help the needy.

…

The new program has had several problems, including confusion. Pedestrians have mistaken the new machines for regular parking meters. Atlanta also has far fewer than the 86 meters Denver had when that city started.

(Hat tip to Rogue at Peach Pundit)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Estimated number of people who were homelessness in Fulton and DeKalb counties for at least part of 2007: 22,000

Number of homeless children enrolled in metro Atlanta schools: 17,267

Percentage of Atlantans interviewed in 2007 who reported job loss or unemployment as their reason for homelessness: 42

Percentage of unemployed Atlantans as of October 2007: 4.4

Percentage as of October 2008: 6.8

Average monthly rent, in dollars, for a two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta: 834

Current monthly welfare benefits, in dollars, for a woman and two children: 282

Number of donation meters installed in downtown Atlanta to discourage the homeless from panhandling: 5

Number of new meters to be installed in other Atlanta locations: 11

Dollars, per month, that Baltimore collects from 10 meters in its main tourism district: 100

Sources: Hands On Atlanta, Tri-Jurisdictional Homeless Census and Survey 2007, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Georgia Department of Labor, ajc.com

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Last Wednesday, Mayor Franklin held a big-deal press conference where it was announced Atlanta would install parking meters around downtown to collect money for the homeless.

The AJC’s Jeffry Scott reported yesterday that homeless meters in other cities don’t collect very much money at all.

In Baltimore, which has a homeless meter program often cited as the example of a program that works, the city collects a total of about $100 a month from 10 meters put up two years ago in the main tourism district along the waterfront.

According to The Parking Meter FAQ, a web page for parking meter hobbyists, parking meters only hold between $30 and $60, depending on the mix of coins deposited.

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