A dollar just isn’t enough.
On Cumberland Avenue and across the larger Knoxville area, displaced and often destitute individuals wander in search of shelter, food and money to get by. Vendors on the Strip, however, feel the presence of these persons poses a problem to business and the general growth of the area.
Relying on the kindness of students, homeless persons seeking charity frequently make their way to campus to try their hand with the area’s generosity.
For some, like Cumberland Avenue McDonald’s owner Joe Burger, student contributions to the homeless foster problems for community businesses and for the homeless person in need.
“They don’t need to give them money, that just brings more and more of them back,” Burger said. “They don’t ask adults. They’ll ask students because they know students don’t want any confrontation.”
Burger noted he is frequently forced to clear intoxicated vagrants from his lobby, and while it’s usually “the same people over and over,” their presence has negatively affected his business.
“The customers send their complaints to us, and we do everything we can to keep those type of people out,” Burger said. “It’s just an ongoing problem that we have to get a handle on.”
Sgt. Cedric Roach, of UT Police Department’s Community Relations Unit, advises students to consider alternate options to giving money to panhandlers.
“If someone is asking for money … you can give if you want to, but we say it’s better to give to an organization that helps to get someone off the street and into a more permanent situation,” Roach said.
The Knoxville Panhandling Ordinance states while soliciting money is legal, there are certain restrictions, such as begging for money after sunset or within 20 feet of an ATM or crosswalk.
Roach attributes the area’s high frequency of complaints to Knoxville’s unusually large population of homeless individuals, which he said is one of the highest per capita in the country. Roach also encourages students to contact UTPD if they feel threatened by persons asking for money.
While many vendors discourage acts of charity towards vagrants on the Strip, LaManda Gillespie, a member of the Knoxville Homeless Collective, encourages people not to give into negative stereotypes.
“Somebody decided to have compassion — you shouldn’t be trying to police that,” Gillespie said of contributions made to the homeless, noting each individual has their own set of circumstances which need to be considered.
“(A homeless person) could have had a divorce with his wife, could have lost his job, kid could have died from leukemia,” Gillespie said. “I’m just saying, there are tons of stories out there besides ‘Oh here comes the drunk, wandering homeless person.'”
Rob Wynkoop, owner of Gyrene Burger on the Strip, said he holds very little sympathy towards such individuals that, through his experience with the homeless, he has often witnessed taking advantage of a vendor’s kindness by eating and drinking to excess.
“In some ways, it’s absolutely frightening and it would be horrible (to be homeless), but at the same time it’s not such a bad existence for them given the choice,” Wynkoop said.
Ultimately, Wynkoop said he hopes students will remember while giving away money “might make you feel better about yourself,” better options exist to help those in need.
“If you really want to help the homeless,” Wynkoop said, “volunteer at some place that’s going to help people make better life choices.”
