Street Poverty Fund
About
The idea behind this is so I can keep cash on hand to give out to panhandlers I encounter here in Durham, NC.
Last year when I had some regular job income I would keep $100 in cash with me wherever we went, and whenever someone asked for money I would just give them a $20. It was no big deal to me, and I got a lot of smiles. Countless studies show that simply giving people money is the most effective way of ending poverty – the improvements are real and long-lasting – so I think it really did make a difference to the folks I ran into.
My contract job ended in August 2024, and we're back to being on a really tight budget (and accumulated credit-card debt that I wasn't able to catch up with while the job was a thing, it's complicated, don't get me started), so we really can't take it out of our household budget – but that doesn't change the reality that these folks are dealing with, and the fact that our threadbare social safety-net isn't really there for them... and all the signs are that it's only going to get worse.
As soon as the first batch of donations hits our bank account, I'll go to an ATM and withdraw it as cash. We use cards for all our expenses, so there's no problem keeping those separate from this fund.
I'll also try to keep a record of times and places where I give it out -- either here or on a wiki page somewhere (there will be a link from here if that's the case).
Whenever the goal is met and the contributions from it are mostly paid out, I'll increase the goal to allow for the next $100 ATM withdrawal.
Ideally, my hope is that this will help normalize the idea that people on the street are human beings too, that they won't just "spend it all on drugs" (a widespread myth, promoted heavily by the oligarchy), and that those of us who have extra can really help those of us in need without having to go through massive multimillion-dollar charity organizations.
Please feel free to contact me on fedi or at SPFund2025@woozalia.com with questions or suggestions ^.^
Related links:
- my most recent post about this on fedi
- universal basic income article on Wikipedia
- free income article on Issuepedia (a site I run)
Links
- GoFundMe has a description of the fund, and is one way to contribute.
Encounters
2025-01-20
I ran into a guy I often see outside the co-op -- a Black guy who is always on crutches (permanent damage, if I understand right). He's always pleasant and never been negative when I said I didn't have anything for him. I told him I'd been saving this $20 for him, which was mostly true (he was one of two people I'd been hoping would pop up while I still had it, the other being David B.).
Accounting
| date | $ amount | fund balance | pocket balance | description/notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-01-03 | 20.00 | 20.00 | 0.00 | donation to fund |
| 2025-01-07 | 19.12 | 20.00 | 0.00 | payout from GoFundMe to bank |
| 2025-01-10 | 20.00 | 20.00 | 20.00 | via ATM |
| 2025-01-19 | -20.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | given to regular outside DCM |