Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
On Tuesday, Boston became the latest U.S. city where people wary of shakedowns by street people can hand over coupons good for the purchase of food and personal care products.
The idea behind the coupons, worth 25 cents each, is to discourage handouts of money, often used by panhandlers to buy unhealthy products such as alcohol and cigarettes.
Under the Coupons Inc. program, retailers sell the coupons for later redemption at their stores. Oddly, some of the first establishments to sign on in Boston are among some of the city's trendier fast-food outlets.
Would a homeless person feel comfortable strolling into an Au Bon Pain and asking for a ham and brie on pumpernickel, with a cup of dark roast?
"If they say they don't want [the coupon], they don't need it," said Harry Main, director of nonprofit Coupons Inc.
Main, 57, has first-hand knowledge.
He was once homeless and considered the lucrative business of panhandling after losing his job several years ago.
Some beggars make up to $300 a day, Main said. But a majority of the money is spent on bad food and drink.
"You're killing them," he said of people who hand over money.
"Panhandling is an unfortunate reality of urban America," Mayor Thomas Menino said during a City Hall ceremony to unveil the program.
In the opinion of some street people, anything will help.
"I'll take what I can get," said Ron Peters, 34, when asked if he prefers hard cash or a coupon. "I'm not in a position to choose, am I?"
The cashless coupons make it impossible for people to get anything but food, nonalcoholic beverages, toiletries and other products. If a purchased item costs less than the coupon, no change will be given.
"It's impossible to create a black market for these," Main said.
The initiative is modeled after coupon distribution programs in Berkeley, Calif.; Seattle; Boulder, Colo.; Chicago; New Haven, Conn.; and New York's upper West Side.
In Berkeley, where the program began, officials say more than two-thirds of the people giving donations to panhandlers are using coupons rather than coins.
by CNB