A campaign underway in Springfield encourages people not to give money to people at the city’s intersections and, instead, donate to nonprofits that help the unsheltered community.
Help Starts Here is a partnership of the City of Springfield, Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Crosslines Community Outreach, Victory Mission and United Way Ozarks Region. It involves installing signs at certain intersections along with educational videos, a web page and social media postings.
Springfield City Councilwoman Callie Carroll, who’s on the Community Involvement Committee, put forth the idea nearly two years ago. She’d seen a sign in another city that encouraged people to give to nonprofits rather than to individuals. It caught her eye, and she took a picture of it.
When she returned, she decided to share the idea with local folks. "I wanted to meet with the nonprofit organizations who deal with things like this every day," she said.
She reached out to Crosslines Community Outreach and Victory Mission who she said told her they would fully support something similar in Springfield.
"And, basically, just with the notion of the dollars go further when you give to an organization as opposed to just, you know, cash on the street, people are then connected, obviously, with broader resources instead of just the immediate need," she said. "They can hopefully be helped beyond that just, like, single encounter."
Carroll said she hopes that another result is fewer people putting themselves in danger by running into traffic to take money from passersby.
The campaign isn’t about prohibiting people from helping panhandlers, she said, it’s about encouraging people to help those who are unsheltered in a different way.
Jason Hynson is executive director of Victory Mission, which works to move people out of homelessness.
"I think that the reality is for us to think, 'hey, if I just do this one thing, then that's going to change that person's life,' and it's just not true. The situations that got them there are, you know, 20, 30, 40 years in the making. And so, for us to think, 'hey, let me just help with this one thing that was the one thing they were missing was me showing up today is a little bit naive," said Hynson. "And I think I was that person. Honestly, I was naive to think that, like, that person just needed my one-day help. And it's just — I've learned it's not true."
Victory Mission has served people in poverty for the last five decades in Springfield. Hynson said they offer emergency shelter for individuals that are leaving their unsheltered situation. They offer programs for those leaving the Department of Corrections and the Greene County Jail or pretrial services, he said. They offer community services such as work-ready boot camps. They provide jobs and job skill development through their social enterprises like Mission Junk Removal, Equip Coffee and a mattress recycling program with the City of Springfield.
"So, we're trying to create our own way to empower people to get that next job and to begin to move from, you know, kind of learned maybe helplessness to empowerment and having them become the best versions of themselves," he said.
Victory Mission served more than 1,000 people last year.
Many charities in Springfield offer help to those who are unsheltered, and Hynson said they want people to reach out for help. Once they go in for shelter, he said, they're also going to get case management.
"We're just waiting for people to walk in and say, 'hey, you know, I'm sick and tired of this. I need help,' " he said. "I think when somebody shows a little effort, man, we will bend over backwards to help them. And that is what's great about Springfield, and that's what this campaign really is about is like, let's really help those individuals to empower their life to be the next employee, the next friend and neighbor that we are excited to have because they're participating in our community."
Hynson said the campaign is also aimed at letting people know that lasting change takes months and years of conversation and counseling, job training and education, and there are nonprofits offering that in the community for anyone that wants it.
"I think the City (of Springfield) was saying, 'hey, we've got nonprofits. You know, next time you pull over...get on one of their websites and make a $20 donation knowing that they're there when that person's ready for the services that that nonprofit is going to offer them to really walk out change,' " he said.
Carroll summed up the campaign this way: "Basically, it's just to increase awareness of the local services that are available to help those in need but then also reduce cash donations at the intersection and increase those donations to the local providers."
She said they want to help people have a bigger impact than a one-time donation.
Signs with the message “It’s OK to say no to panhandling. Support local organizations that can help” are going up at 10 Springfield intersections:
- Campbell Avenue and Sunshine Street
- Campbell Avenue and Walnut Lawn Street
- Campbell Avenue and Grand Street
- Campbell Avenue and Battlefield Street
- Glenstone Avenue and Bennett Street
- Campbell Avenue and Chestnut Expressway
- Campbell Avenue and Westview Street
- Peele Street and Harvard Avenue
- Grant Avenue and Chestnut Expressway
- Main Avenue and Chestnut Expressway.
Other campaign components include testimonial videos by nonprofit leaders, educational videos, social media and a webpage that provides links to the nonprofit partners.
