Positive Change: New donation meters help the homeless in Monterey
Maybe you’ve noticed the bright orange parking meters in downtown Monterey that popped up this week.
Funny thing is, they’re not for parking. Instead, they’re for donations.
In an effort to offer a creative way for residents and visitors to donate to the homeless, the City of Monterey re-purposed five parking meters into donation meters. Each one is strategically placed in heavy foot-traffic areas.
“It’s nice and clearly colored,” Angie Biggs, visiting from Britain, said. “I think people will see it as they come past and think ‘oh yes, I’ll donate a bit today.’ Perhaps throw their loose change in.”
City officials said 100 percent of the donations will be collected and then distributed to agencies that serve the homeless. Some of those agencies include the Salvation Army, Interim and I-HELP.
The idea grew out of community meetings.
“This is something that has been done in other communities and it seems to be effective, seems to work,” City of Monterey Community and Outreach Manager Anne McGrath said.
City officials said they don’t know how much money these meters will raise just yet. However, if the program proves successful, officials said they may add more meters and even allow them to take debit and/or credit cards.
City officials also said the program may discourage panhandling.
Hauss Hollrah, who has been homeless for seven years, said a little bit of change goes a long way.
“It means very well, and the people who put it here have really good intentions,” Hollrah said. “But the good intentions, I don’t believe are the right answer to the problem.”
He said he wishes the donations would go directly to the homeless. He said sometimes he needs the money right away.
Others said they’re glad the City of Monterey and homeless agencies are serving as the middleman.
“If I was down here working or walking along, I’d probably drop my spare change in this a lot more comfortably than giving it to a person on the street because I know when I do that, they’re probably going to go buy some beer or something,” Josh Mitchell, who works in Monterey, said. “And it feels kind of like you want to help but you’re actually making the problem worse.”
The five meters are located on Alvarado Street at the Osio Adobe,Calle Principal at the Monterey Airbus station,Simoneau Plaza (Monterey Transit Plaza),Fisherman’s Wharf at the entrance, andCannery Row at the Bruce Ariss Way.
City officials said they’re open to suggestions as the program takes off. One person suggested to KION that the meters show how much people have donated.
