Giving a few dollars to the person on the street corner at 75 and Forest may seem like the most caring and responsible thing to do in order to help an individual, but it’s not. Your money can go much further in helping the homeless if that same amount of money is given to a local non-profit. There are dozens of non-profit organizations doing great work in Dallas and directly helping those experiencing homelessness. Giving to non-profits that are experienced in working with this vulnerable population has proven to be a more effective solution than one-off giving to those asking for money on street corners and at intersections. For those that truly want help and want to be sheltered, there are resources available.
One of the priorities that I have in helping to alleviate homelessness and provide those in need with the resources they need is to increase funding for street outreach and case workers within the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS). With increased funding, we can more rapidly engage with those in homeless encampments and those on the streets and get them off the streets and get them the help that they need.
From the City of Dallas website at https://www.dallascitynews.net/dallas-office-of-homeless-solutions-launches-responsible-giving-campaign
DALLAS – The Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) is excited to announce the implementation of the Give Responsibly campaign, which encourages residents to donate to charitable organizations that assist the unsheltered population, resulting in a more sustainable impact than the short-term engagement of street charity.
The campaign offers multiple options, making it easy to donate, including a text option where residents can text the word CARES to 214-740-4886 and receive a direct link to the OHS Donate webpage.
Once on the Donate webpage, residents can choose from three ways to donate to the unsheltered community via:
1. Communities Foundation of Texas
2. Responsible Giving: via one of our OHS partner organizations; or
3. Give to one of the 100+ unsheltered service provider members of the local Continuum of Care
Photo credit: Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons