Colorado Springs Mayor explains ‘handouts don’t help’ signs

Signs put up around Colorado Springs hoping to prevent people from giving money to panhandlers is just the beginning of a new effort by city leaders.

We first showed you these signs a few days ago.

They read, “handouts don’t help,” and then followed by a phone number that allows people driving or walking by to donate.

Today, Mayor of Colorado Springs, John Suthers explains the signs are part of a new campaign called HelpCOS. It’s aimed at decreasing the number of panhandlers along busy intersections. He explains it’s both a safety and funding measure, “this HelpCOS campaign is really a good way to give an avenue for people who want to give, to provide services for these folks but don’t do it in a way that is; number one dangerous, and number two is not very constructive.”

When we walked to panhandlers earlier in the week many said, they didn’t notice the signs, others said, “good people will still be good people.”

Mayor Suthers admits these signs won’t fix the problem overnight, but, says, “we hope they’ll think about it. People are going to make their own decisions knowing full well they might be buying this guy marijuana. If they want to give money to them, that’s their decision.”

Panhandling isn’t illegal in Colorado Springs, but there are laws against hanging out on certain medians. He says giving money directly to panhandlers may be adding to a bigger problem, “you may be aiding a substance abuse habit, you may be paying things for things you don’t want to pay for in a transient lifestyle.”

The funds that given through the HelpCOS campaign are funneled into an account run by the Pikes Peak United Way, but the funds will only come out of the account once a year. Organizations with homeless outreach programs will have to apply for the funds before they can be used.

A total of 65 signs will go up across Colorado Springs.