Panhandling is a common sight in the city of Las Cruces.
“A lot of times you give a homeless person money, they’re not going to use it in the right way,” Richard Fox, a Las Cruces resident said.
Because of the issue, the group Businesses for a Safer Las Cruces is trying to get a ‘No Soliciting Ordinance’ passed by city councilors.
“We don’t want to criminalize homelessness, we don’t want to criminalize stealing shopping carts, what we want to do is get them help, and the only way to do that is educate our community,” Donna Stryker, with Business for a Safer Las Cruces said.
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Educating the community not to donate to panhandlers, but to the charities and non-profits that can help them.
“If we educate the community to not hand money out at the street corners, which is dangerous because people have been hurt,” Stryker said.
In the city of Las Cruces panhandling is legal, as long as the solicitor is not engaging in a harassing or threatening manner. Also, currently solicitation in an aggressive manner is prohibited and is defined in the current ordinance.
“If we can get them to give the money to the resources that are in Las Cruces, which there are a multitude, and give the money to the nonprofits so that the nonprofits can get the help to the folks that really need it,” Stryker said.
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KFOX14 asked people who live in the area what they thought about the idea.
“I feel for the people that are asking for money, but at the same time, I’m not sure that the money is going toward helping them, maybe it keeps hurting them,” Derek Schosthe said.
“Give the money to a charity, the charities going to say, here’s food, here’s clothing, here’s shelter,” Fox said.
Nicole Martinez is the Executive Director of Mesilla Valley Community of Hope, which is a non-profit that helps people like this, who are experiencing homelessness or are on the brink of it. She said she’s not opposed to the idea, but still respects people’s decision on who they choose to donate too.
The Mesilla Valley Community of Hope appreciates the generous donations from the community. 95 cents of every dollar goes directly to client services,” Martinez said. “We understand that giving to another person or to an entity is a personal decision, and we honor a person’s right to decide.For Villalobos and Stryker, their goal with their ideas and initiatives is to continue to try and make a difference, by making the city they call home a safer place.
“We want to help the people, we want them to get help, and try to civilize back into society,” Villalobos said. “But in that same instance, you have people coming here from out of state that are criminals that have a big criminal history and because they see the opportunity of all the things that are here, they come and take advantage of that situation.”