Pubdate: Sat, 28 Apr 2007
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n495/a01.html
Author: Julia Goodhew

HERE'S SOME FRANK TALK ABOUT PANHANDLING

Re: Don't help drug-addicted panhandlers, officials plead, April 19.

On an impromptu coffee break recently, I was surprised to find 
"Frank" panhandling just outside my downtown office building -- a 
fair distance from where he typically "works" most days. He explained 
that with the recent media coverage of crack addicts panhandling in 
the market, and city staff advising those kind souls who take the 
time to drop coins into a hat on the sidewalk to no longer do so that 
he and others were being driven out of their usual locales, jacked up 
by police and told to move on.

He looked at me sadly and shrugged "so, now we're all crack addicts."

The thing is, Frank isn't a crack addict. Nor is he an aggressive 
panhandler. He is a kind, good-natured man who is well worth taking 
the time to talk to.

There are dozens of Franks on the streets of Ottawa. And the last 
thing dear people like Frank need is for society to buy into another 
stereotype -- another excuse to be unkind, to cross to the other side 
of the street, avert our eyes and simply pretend they don't exist.

Julia Goodhew, Ottawa

Research and project co-ordinator

National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness 
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman