Meters raise needed funds for San Diego’s homeless

By Chris Young | inewsource

Editor’s Note: On Nov. 20, the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Mayor Kevin Faulconer launched the third annual “Make Change Count” drive, to help the homeless find shelter and care to support all the efforts to end homelessness Downtown. The drive focuses on red meter-style “donation stations” located throughout the Downtown area. The article below previously ran online at inewsouce.org on Oct. 27.

The red meters scattered throughout Downtown San Diego that collect donations for the homeless have raised nearly $10,000 since the first of nearly two-dozen stations was installed four years ago.

While the total is far from enough money to help the city end its fight against homelessness, the nonprofit organization that operates the donation program says the meters are about more than generating money for homeless services.

“They were never meant to be a huge money-raiser,” said Kelly Knight, the homeless outreach coordinator for the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean & Safe program. “They were meant to be an awareness and an education tool.”

November marked four years since the Downtown San Diego Partnership installed the first donation meter. Since then, the nonprofit group has erected a total of 21 donation stations throughout Downtown as part of its “Make Change Count” program.

The stations, which look like red parking meters and are located on private property, accept coin and credit card payments.

According to figures provided by Downtown Partnership, meter donations have gradually increased each year. In fiscal year 2012, the meters collected less than $1,000. In the last fiscal year, they generated more than $4,000.

Most of the money raised through the donation meters — roughly $6,500 — has gone toward a program called Work Your Way Home, which helps reunite homeless people with their family members. The rest of the money has been used to pay for credit card transaction fees associated with the donations and new donation meters.

Knight said the Work Your Way Home program helps identify family members who are able and willing to take in homeless relatives or loved ones struggling in San Diego. Once the connection is established, she said the program pays for their ticket home.

“In exchange, we ask them to do a little work,” Knight said.

“That feature of the program is so important because it isn’t just moving folks out of the city and not caring about them,” said Dolores Diaz, executive director of the San Diego County Regional Task Force on the Homeless. “It is a compassionate way to reunify folks with some dignity.”

San Diego is one of several cities across the country that has installed donation meters for the homeless. Some programs have been more successful than others.

Supporters of the donation meters tout them as a way for people to contribute to organizations that know how to effectively care for the homeless. But some critics argue that the meters are mainly used as a way to discourage panhandling and push the homeless out of Downtown business districts.

“The whole idea is, don’t give money to poor people because if you do they’ll hang around,” said Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, a San Francisco-based organization that advocates for the homeless.

Boden said it’s upsetting that organizations in San Diego and other cities have spent so much time and resources installing donation meters. He said they haven’t generated much money and aren’t addressing the root causes of homelessness.

However, Knight said the Downtown Partnership is encouraged by the success of its program. In fact, she said the nonprofit has plans to install 10 more meters Downtown in the near future.

The annual drive also helps boost support of the program. For donation station/red meter locations see the sidebar below.

?— Chris Young is a reporter at inewsource, an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit focused on investigative, data-driven journalism. Contact him at [email protected].

“Make Change Count” donation station locations

Donations deposited into the Make Change Count donation stations are collected as the meters fill up and turned over to the Downtown San Diego Partnership Foundation, a 501(c)3 which supports the Ending Homelessness Campaign. The funds help pay for homeless efforts including: hygiene kits; the work your way home program; and for items that assist with preparing for job interviews.

1. SW of Harbor Boulevard and Park Boulevard
2. Hilton bayside — Park Boulevard & Gull Street
3. Rear of Convention Center near Marina Park Way
4. Marina Walkway at the rear of Marriott Marquis and Marina
5. SE of Harbor Boulevard and First Street
6. Market Place behind the Hyatt San Diego
7. NE of Kettner Boulevard and Broadway
8. NE of Front Street and Broadway
9. SW of First Street and Broadway by the Chase Bank
10. N-side of Broadway Circle next to Panera Bread
11. Broadway Circle by the Balboa Theatre ticket entrance
12. SW courtyard entrance to Horton Plaza near First Avenue and G Street
13. E-side of Fifth Avenue between Broadway and C Street next to Hotel Palomar
14. SW of Fifth Avenue and B Street next to Wells Fargo
15. W-side of Park between Broadway and C Street by the Smart Corner building
16. SE of Sixth Avenue and F Street next to Quality Social
17. NE of Sixth Avenue and G Street next to Buca di Beppo
18. E-side of Sixth Avenue, mid block, between J and K streets
19. NE of Park Boulevard and J Street
20. S-side of Island Avenue, mid block, between Fourth and Fifth avenues
21. E-side of Fourth Avenue, mid block, between Island Avenue and J Street

**Are you interested in installing a donation station on your property? Call the Clean & Safe office at 619-234-8900 for more information.