Q. What became of the panhandler initiative, with a fellow on the street helping panhandlers connect to services, and donations collected at downtown stores?

A. The Dawn Farm program was described in the November 2001 Observer, and the man plying the streets was Charles Coleman.

The donation boxes were intended to raise money for Coleman’s work, while also conveying the message that giving cash directly to someone with a substance abuse problem might not be the healthiest thing for them.

The boxes were swiped so often that the collection program had to be discontinued. But Coleman still covers downtown streets twice a week, attending to the always-changing population of “street people.” He is currently working with a DDA task force that is reviewing the issue of aggressive panhandling.

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