Augusta’s proposed “Give Change that Counts” program consists of spending $25,000 on a marketing campaign to persuade residents and visitors not to give to panhandlers.
City Public Information Manager Danielle Hayes presented an outline of the plan Tuesday to five commissioners and Mayor Garnett Johnson.
Only two Augusta committees, Finance and Administrative Services, were able to meet due to the absence of five commissioners Tuesday.
Interim City Administrator Takiyah Douse said the city looked to Savannah, which has a program by the same name, and tailored it to fit Augusta.
“We are seeking to make our public citizens, as well as any visitors that come to Augusta-Richmond County, aware of our interest in giving change that counts,” Douse said.
Increasing numbers of panhandlers prompted the commission to recently consider adopting an ordinance restricting the practice. But a city senior staff attorney informed them any effort would violate the panhandlers’ First Amendment right to free speech.
Instead, the marketing campaign will attempt to do three things, Hayes said:
• Define panhandling as protected behavior but a possible public safety issue
• Explain that not all panhandlers are homeless and not all homeless people panhandle
• Raise awareness about local nonprofits that attempt to help people who are homeless or need to panhandle
Savannah program used to fund day shelters
Savannah’s program launched in 2021 as a fundraising mechanism to open day shelters for the homeless or those in need. Earlier this month, Savannah unveiled a plan to install more than 100 street signs with QR codes that direct the public to a website where they can donate to the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless.
While the Savannah authority has four designated day shelters that will receive the funds, Augusta has no day shelters. Many who stay overnight at Augusta shelters simply congregate nearby during the day.
Augusta’s education campaign would involve radio, TV, social media, some print and “even boots on the ground,” Hayes said.
Currently intended recipients include Augusta Rescue Mission, Golden Harvest Food Bank, Salvation Army Center of Hope and United Way of the CSRA, she said.
The city will create a website with links to the charities, to which visitors may donate online directly, Hayes said.
“The city of Augusta will never touch any dollars of this program,” she said.
Hayes said the city is unable to tell the nonprofits “how to manage their corporation” but would encourage them to use any collected funds to help the homeless.
Several commissioners questioned the efficacy of a program intended to decrease panhandling by helping the charities raise money.
“When we look at this money going to these agencies that are helping the homeless, what happens to those that are not homeless and they are just panhandling because they don’t want to get off their butts to work?” Commissioner Tony Lewis asked.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said the program “seems mainly philanthropic” and said he was unsure if it was the most effective way to address panhandling.
“If these organizations had a fraction of those $25,000 directly, they could sponsor this outreach.”
The city has done little to act on the recommendations of the homelessness task force, and spent little or no pandemic relief money on addressing homelessness, he said.
“If we’re going to give $25,000 to that program, I just want to make sure we address this notion of poverty in Augusta,” Johnson said.
The program will target three areas initially: downtown, Wrightsboro Road near Augusta Mall and Washington Road at I-20, Hayes said.
Commissioner Brandon Garrett asked why the Peach Orchard-Windsor Spring roads corridor wasn’t included, and Hayes said it could be added.
Garrett said he thought the program alongside a “better-worded ordinance” would work together to address the issue.
Hayes said the city would survey businesses at the start of a one-year trial period then again at the end to see if panhandling had decreased. It would seek reports from nonprofits of how many were helped and ask Augusta 311 and the Richmond County Sheriff’s and Marshal’s offices if reports had decreased.
The committee referred the proposal to the full commission without a recommendation.
