Begging on Street Corners

General discussion on all things Omaha.

Moderators: Coyote, nebugeater, Brad, Omaha Cowboy, BRoss

User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033311
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Begging on Street Corners

Post by Brad »

Did something change in the last 6 months that there are now so many people begging on street corners? It seems like in the past I would see a couple a week, now some days I see a couple on the same intersection. They are everywhere.
User avatar
RNcyanide
Planning Board
Posts: 2780
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:37 am
Location: Boston

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by RNcyanide »

I've noticed that too... I'm also starting to see them in places I've never seen them before, like standing on the median in the middle of Dodge.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

The Bride
User avatar
jessep28
Planning Board
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:10 pm
Location: Omaha Metro Area

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by jessep28 »

The police department is pushing for a stronger ordinance to combat them.

Omaha police want aggressive panhandler ordinance
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
User avatar
Uffda
County Board
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:52 pm
Location: Land o Lakes, FL

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Uffda »

jessep28 wrote:The police department is pushing for a stronger ordinance to combat them.

Omaha police want aggressive panhandler ordinance

Among the actions the police want to prohibit:
» Soliciting money near an ATM
» Repeated requests for money
» Asking for money from someone who’s stopped in traffic
» Touching someone while panhandling


So what if they're just standing there with a sign does fit with asking for money? I saw a couple of guys around west roads/regency holding signs but I didn't see them approach a car

I know when I have visited my daughter in Tampa, there's been people on the island mediums holding signs, selling water selling newspapers. I think down there they might be required to wear those Day-Glo orange vest
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033311
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Brad »

Yesterday there was a person (unsure if it was a man it woman) at 72 and Dodge in the island. Today there was a guy and girl couple at 76th and dodge and they have been there a lot lately, although yesterday it was in older man. Today there was a 60's is guy at 78th and Cass, the other day there were two different guys at I80 and pacific, one on each exit ramp.
User avatar
OmahaJaysCU
Planning Board
Posts: 2164
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:00 pm

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by OmahaJaysCU »

I feel like 76th and Dodge/Rose Blumkin has been popular for a number of years. But I have noticed it a ton lately in several "new" spots. Pacific/I-80 like Brad mentioned, west roads all over, eastbound exit of I-80/84th street, 72nd/Pacific, 114th/Dodge, eastbound exit of 60th/I-80.

Is something going on that is leading to this? It's obviously quite a sad situation. This summer it has become alarmingly more prevalent.
User avatar
iamjacobm
City Council
Posts: 10376
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:52 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by iamjacobm »

I think just like everything the trend has been late here. I have noticed in a couple other cities that panhandlers have been around interchanges or in suburban areas for a few years now. Maybe socioeconomic trends follow the same flow as fashion and music...
User avatar
Coyote
City Council
Posts: 32934
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:18 am
Location: Aksarben Village
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Coyote »

Here you go, you must have known something was in the fire...



City Officials Have Plan to Change Panhandling Guidelines
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033311
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Brad »

KETV Channel 7 had a story last night too and they interviewed one of the Beggers and he said something about its great money and that someone just handed him a $20 and the car before that a $50.

Found it:
http://www.ketv.com/news/city-consideri ... g/35403124
User avatar
skinzfan23
City Council
Posts: 9134
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:26 am
Location: Omaha/Bellevue

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by skinzfan23 »

Wow that is crazy that someone would give $50, heck even $20 is a lot when you don't know what they are going to use it for.
User avatar
Coyote
City Council
Posts: 32934
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:18 am
Location: Aksarben Village
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Coyote »

skinzfan23 wrote:Wow that is crazy that someone would give $50, heck even $20 is a lot when you don't know what they are going to use it for.
Yeah, that $50 would be 5 hours of work at McDonalds...
or half his cell phone bill for the month...
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033311
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Brad »

skinzfan23 wrote:Wow that is crazy that someone would give $50, heck even $20 is a lot when you don't know what they are going to use it for.
They guy from the Open Door Mission or Francis House says not to give them a penny.
Original
Home Owners Association
Posts: 184
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:19 pm

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Original »

If I've seen someone for several days and they look emaciated (versus just skinny, once you know what to look for, you can tell), I have in the past given guys a burger off the fast food dollar menu. Mostly it seems appreciated (as in they start eating it right away). In the town where I used to live, the local mission & food bank had partnered with the taxi company, and you could purchase vouchers for rides to the mission/food bank (pretty inexpensively, like $10 for 5), which you could then give to people that might seem like they needed it. I didn't feel bad purchasing those or handing them out, and if there was something similar in Omaha, I would do it.

I do admit that I frequently just ignore folks who are on the corners. I also don't help people who come up and tell me that they just need $12 to get a taxi to get home, I feel bad for them, but I don't help them, because every time I have seen someone help them, the person asking for money just moves on and repeats the same story to the next person.

Neither of these are, in truth, good solutions, and in America it is not unlikely that people who are panhandling are doing so by choice, so it's a tough call how to help the people who genuinely need it, and not enable the people who don't.
User avatar
nebugeater
City Council
Posts: 108875
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 6:07 pm
Location: Gretna NE

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by nebugeater »

There used to be a group that begged in the Lake Manawa area of CB that I saw frequently when I was over there a lot. They lost any chance of me giving them a handout when on multiple occasions I saw the same people getting into or out of a car a ways away from where they were begging and the car was much nicer than what I was driving.

Not saying there wasn't people in need at time to but it is hard to tell.

Years ago when I was in Cedar Rapids there was a group that got run out of their "home" for begging in the Quad Cities. They would take a van to Cedar Rapids multiple days a week and be begging around that town. The Local news paper covered it in much detail at the time and the got more coverage than they ever hoped for.
For the record  NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER    !!!!!!!
User avatar
TitosBuritoBarn
Planning Board
Posts: 3035
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:08 pm
Location: St. Louis

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

Original wrote:I do admit that I frequently just ignore folks who are on the corners. I also don't help people who come up and tell me that they just need $12 to get a taxi to get home, I feel bad for them, but I don't help them, because every time I have seen someone help them, the person asking for money just moves on and repeats the same story to the next person.
I was in Boston once and a guy got on my train and asked for "just $9" for commuter rail fare to get to his daughter in some suburb. The next day he was on my train again, but it was a completely different line in a completely different part of town (opposite of where he was supposedly headed I think). This time he only asked for $8, but he was still trying to get to his daughter. So he's clearly either a liar or terrible at economics.
"Video game violence is not a new problem. Who could forget in the wake of SimCity how children everywhere took up urban planning." - Stephen Colbert
User avatar
jessep28
Planning Board
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:10 pm
Location: Omaha Metro Area

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by jessep28 »

I worked at a gas station a decade ago. Come into work one afternoon and there was a couple set up on a corner in the shopping center with a RV parked nearby. Out of gas, blah blah blah.

Find out from the morning shift that they had been there all day and were using the money to buy lottery tickets.
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
User avatar
iamjacobm
City Council
Posts: 10376
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:52 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by iamjacobm »

I have been told before that giving money is a stop gap that doesn't help the people b/c it is just another day they don't seek help from the number of services out there. They said that money goes a lot further donated to food banks or shelters.
GRANDPASMUCKER
Human Relations
Posts: 832
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GRANDPASMUCKER »

Brad wrote:
skinzfan23 wrote:Wow that is crazy that someone would give $50, heck even $20 is a lot when you don't know what they are going to use it for.
They guy from the Open Door Mission or Francis House says not to give them a penny.
He is correct. I guarantee 99 out of 100 of them are using the money for booze or meth. It wouldn't bother me or many of us a bit to buy a burger fry and a coke and give it to one of those guys. But they dont want food. So in short screw them and yes get the laws lined up so we can get these people off the corners and out of our faces.

One time I was down at the old market and this bum comes up to me mooching money. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my change and I had about 58 cents and I gave it all to him. He remarks that I could of have given him at least a dollar. I told him if he didn't like it then he should give me my 58 cents back. The bum says "Yeah I would like to see you take it back." So I said don't think for a minute I couldn't take that money back if I wanted to. After I said that the bum fished out a rusty pocket knife out of his back pocket and brandished it at me. This was right in the middle of the old market and there were lots of people watching so I resisted the urge to take that knife away from him and rub his face in the bricks. I walked on with my friends and about 20 minutes later a block away 2 cop cars pulled up an converged on me. The cops said that people had called in and reported that the bum had pulled a knife on me and they needed me to press charges. So the cops took me back up to where the incident occurred near the main intersection and they had the bum in cuffs in the back of a car. I looked at that pathetic bum and I turned to the cops and said that I did not want to press charges and that I just wanted them to throw him in the drunk tank for 24 hours. The cops conversed and decided that would work for them and they hauled him off for a night in jail.
User avatar
GetUrban
Planning Board
Posts: 2634
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:07 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GetUrban »

Next thing you know the panhandlers will set a minimum donation accepted, or demand a paypal transfer.

I had a panhandler ask me for $ when I was at an ATM in the Old Market....like I was going to give him a $20. I reached for my phone an told him I was calling the cops. He moved on. I feel bad for some of them, but I agree it's better for them in the long run to be ignored when asking for handouts. In Mexico city, kids will wash your windshield while stopped at a stoplight and then ask for $. At least they are providing a service...although they usually make it worse with their already dirty rag.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
User avatar
Garrett
Planning Board
Posts: 3487
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:29 pm
Location: New York City

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Garrett »

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
Original wrote:I do admit that I frequently just ignore folks who are on the corners. I also don't help people who come up and tell me that they just need $12 to get a taxi to get home, I feel bad for them, but I don't help them, because every time I have seen someone help them, the person asking for money just moves on and repeats the same story to the next person.
I was in Boston once and a guy got on my train and asked for "just $9" for commuter rail fare to get to his daughter in some suburb. The next day he was on my train again, but it was a completely different line in a completely different part of town (opposite of where he was supposedly headed I think). This time he only asked for $8, but he was still trying to get to his daughter. So he's clearly either a liar or terrible at economics.
There's a guy I've seen who rides the Red line who has always been kicked out of his by his drunk father ~~a month ago, was just released from Northwestern Hospital, and needs help paying for a medication for some kind of swelling of his leg, which he apparently has papers for and all. But after seeing it happen 3 times part of me begins to become cynical. He certainly goes for the heart strings though. He talks about sleeping on the blue line like a dog, and then is sure to thank everyone for not cussing him out like "a lot of people do."
OMA-->CHI-->NYC
User avatar
RNcyanide
Planning Board
Posts: 2780
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:37 am
Location: Boston

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by RNcyanide »

Saw another one standing on the median at the corner of 76th and Dodge.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

The Bride
GRANDPASMUCKER
Human Relations
Posts: 832
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GRANDPASMUCKER »

RNcyanide wrote:Saw another one standing on the median at the corner of 76th and Dodge.
This critter here has been working that corner for the last couple of months. He says he is a Vietnam Vet but I'm not sure hes old enough to have fought in Vietnam.

Image
User avatar
Coyote
City Council
Posts: 32934
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:18 am
Location: Aksarben Village
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Coyote »

I still can't believe someone in Omaha can make 30k/year by just accepting donations...
oh, besides politicians that is...
User avatar
Omababe
Planning Board
Posts: 2470
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:47 am
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Omababe »

GetUrban wrote:In Mexico city, kids will wash your windshield while stopped at a stoplight and then ask for $. At least they are providing a service...although they usually make it worse with their already dirty rag.
That used to be common in Manhattan back in the 1970s.
User avatar
RNcyanide
Planning Board
Posts: 2780
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:37 am
Location: Boston

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by RNcyanide »

GRANDPASMUCKER wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:Saw another one standing on the median at the corner of 76th and Dodge.
This critter here has been working that corner for the last couple of months. He says he is a Vietnam Vet but I'm not sure hes old enough to have fought in Vietnam.
Same spot, different guy.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

The Bride
User avatar
RNcyanide
Planning Board
Posts: 2780
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:37 am
Location: Boston

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by RNcyanide »

Beggar in front of the Peony Park Hy Vee on Cass and two on 90th and Dodge.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

The Bride
User avatar
iamjacobm
City Council
Posts: 10376
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:52 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by iamjacobm »

Not sure the point of this thread is a live map of the less fortunate.
User avatar
Brad
City Council
Posts: 1033311
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:03 pm
Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Brad »

iamjacobm wrote:Not sure the point of this thread is a live map of the less fortunate.
When I started it I was trying to figure why the sudden increase in numbers.
GRANDPASMUCKER
Human Relations
Posts: 832
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GRANDPASMUCKER »

iamjacobm wrote:Not sure the point of this thread is a live map of the less fortunate.
Not sure the point of your post isn't that you are holier then thou but the real point here is these people are not "less fortunate" and are more along the lines of con men. :yes:
User avatar
iamjacobm
City Council
Posts: 10376
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:52 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by iamjacobm »

Brad wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Not sure the point of this thread is a live map of the less fortunate.
When I started it I was trying to figure why the sudden increase in numbers.
I think that is a much better conversation and one worth having rather than making a list of their locations. I don't really see how an update on the locations of panhandlers does anything to drive a conversation about why it is happening more and what the city is doing about it. Maybe I am off base and people value the info.

I am sure GPS will respond with some demeaning comment about the "critters" again. Gotta love that block feature.
GRANDPASMUCKER
Human Relations
Posts: 832
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GRANDPASMUCKER »

iamjacobm wrote:
Brad wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:Not sure the point of this thread is a live map of the less fortunate.
When I started it I was trying to figure why the sudden increase in numbers.
I think that is a much better conversation and one worth having rather than making a list of their locations. I don't really see how an update on the locations of panhandlers does anything to drive a conversation about why it is happening more and what the city is doing about it. Maybe I am off base and people value the info.

I am sure GPS will respond with some demeaning comment about the "critters" again. Gotta love that block feature.
Oh cry like a baby why don't you. By the way I am for Trump and we are sick and tired of obnoxious politically correct people like you. Anyway in behalf of your crocodile tears here for the injustices I have done to these poor starving down trodden.......And to commemorate the Pope eating with the homeless people today in Washington DC I shall serve a bountiful lunch to one of those poor less fortunate souls hanging out on Dodge Street tomorrow. I will pull into that McDonalds on 77th & Dodge and purchase a McChicken,Big Mac,2 frys and 2 cokes and drive by and hand one of those fellows that Mcfeast. Wonder if a bum prefers a Big mac or a quarter pounder or just a simple hamburger. :)
User avatar
RNcyanide
Planning Board
Posts: 2780
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:37 am
Location: Boston

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by RNcyanide »

I'm sure they'll move out by winter.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

The Bride
User avatar
GetUrban
Planning Board
Posts: 2634
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:07 pm
Location: Omaha

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by GetUrban »

GRANDPASMUCKER wrote:
By the way I am for Trump and we are sick and tired of obnoxious politically correct people like you.
That is the politically correct thing to say if you're a Trump supporter.

The Pope's words today to congress and the U.S. have already been lost on too many, apparently.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
User avatar
iamjacobm
City Council
Posts: 10376
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:52 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by iamjacobm »

The fact that giving some respect to your fellow man is seen as PC is a pathetic and narrow way of thinking. Just label as me as some liberal bleeding heart though b/c it's easier than challenging your notions for even a min.
User avatar
Coyote
City Council
Posts: 32934
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:18 am
Location: Aksarben Village
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Coyote »

Rules for panhandling get overhaul
Roseann Moring - World-Herald staff write wrote:The Omaha City Council approved an overhaul to the city’s panhandling ordinance Tuesday, and council members said they’re working on further changes that would ban panhandling in street medians.
User avatar
Garrett
Planning Board
Posts: 3487
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:29 pm
Location: New York City

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Garrett »

It's funny coming home sometimes and seeing what my friends that have stayed in the state think aggressive panhandling is.
OMA-->CHI-->NYC
ashleyray2008
New to the Neighborhood
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 5:43 pm

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by ashleyray2008 »

Hello I am a former panhandler, I have a family of 7. 3 are children, a 15 yr, 3yr, 2yr old. I am 22 my birth certificates for my entire family were stolen along with our s.s. card's. My I'd was stolen so there for I can't get a job neither can my sister. My mom is 42 and companies tell her that she is too slow. So they fire her. My hubby he got in a forklift accident hurt his back doc says he still can't go to work doc has him on med. Hold. I have no choice but to beg. I hate it it sucks!!!!!! I would much rather have a job!!! I just want everyone to know that not all baggers are mean, not all of them are liners. It's very easy to tell who is a liar and who isn't. When you see people out in a thunderstorm with tornado warnings those people are telling the truth.
User avatar
Linkin5
County Board
Posts: 4535
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 7:59 pm

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Linkin5 »

ashleyray2008 wrote:Hello I am a former panhandler, I have a family of 7. 3 are children, a 15 yr, 3yr, 2yr old. I am 22 my birth certificates for my entire family were stolen along with our s.s. card's. My I'd was stolen so there for I can't get a job neither can my sister. My mom is 42 and companies tell her that she is too slow. So they fire her. My hubby he got in a forklift accident hurt his back doc says he still can't go to work doc has him on med. Hold. I have no choice but to beg. I hate it it sucks!!!!!! I would much rather have a job!!! I just want everyone to know that not all baggers are mean, not all of them are liners. It's very easy to tell who is a liar and who isn't. When you see people out in a thunderstorm with tornado warnings those people are telling the truth.
You can't get a job because you don't have a birth certificate or SS card? That is absolute bullsh!t, it will take some time but you can get replacements, also no employer needs the actual copies of these documents.
User avatar
Omababe
Planning Board
Posts: 2470
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:47 am
Contact:

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by Omababe »

Linkin5 wrote:You can't get a job because you don't have a birth certificate or SS card? That is absolute {bovine caca}
Actually, some years ago, my current employer required "proof of citizenship" when I signed on and one of the few documents they would accept was a birth certificate.

On the other hand, I can't EVER remember having to produce my original SS card, ever. Employers, bank, credit union, etc. (even the casino for a very-infrequent large payout) have always taken my word for it. I suppose when I retire I'll have to produce it at the SS office, but nobody so far, even employers, have asked for it.
User avatar
nebugeater
City Council
Posts: 108875
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 6:07 pm
Location: Gretna NE

Re: Begging on Street Corners

Post by nebugeater »

I have changed jobs twice in the last 5 years. In both cases I had to provide my actual birth Cert OR a Passport (witch I did). TO get the Passport I had to provide an original or a copy that was stamped from the county the birth cert was issued in.

SS Card
Birth Cert
Marriage License
Drivers License
Passport
As stated before they can all be gotten as replacements for a small fee but it does take some time. Having them lost or stolen is not an acceptable excuse for not being able to supply them.
For the record  NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER    !!!!!!!
Post Reply