A new project proposed by the Imagine Positive Change Coalition calls for installing old parking meters along Pacific Avenue, so that people who want to help the homeless can drop their spare change in them. The money collected will be used to help pay the salaries of two municipal social workers to work with the homeless.
Pacific Avenue is popular with pedestrians, and also popular with panhandlers. With social services facing severe cuts, their numbers could increase as well, making a stroll down the street uncomfortable for some, and potentially deterring people from visiting local businesses. That may soon change, however.
A new project proposed by the Imagine Positive Change Coalition, a group consisting of neighborhood activists and politicians, calls for installing old parking meters along the street, so that people who want to help the homeless can drop their spare change in them. The meters will be renovated and decorated by local artists, so that they will not be confused with regular parking meters.
Money collected in the meters will be used to help pay the salaries of two municipal social workers who work with the homeless community in the area. It will also be used to pay for medical services, transportation, and basic toiletries.
Councilman Don Lane, a former employee of the Homeless Services Center and a member of the Imagine Positive Change Coalition, is excited by the idea. “The money would go directly to help those downtown, not to a service that Pacific Avenue panhandlers might not use.”
