The stock answer many panhandlers hear is ‘get a job.’ In a few cities around the nation, giving short-term jobs to some homeless people who want them, has been praised as a success and one of many answers to a multifaceted problem.
Chico City Councilman Scott Huber is requesting his city explore such a program, modeled after one initiated several years ago in Albuquerque New Mexico. I sat down with councilman Huber Monday, asking him first about the proposal’s appeal.
This program takes into account a very small percentage, but the solution, I believe is taking each of those little bites out of the elephant. It's a bigger problem than we're going to solve right here in this community, but we can take chunks out of it.