In this episode of “Try to Control Your Shock and Amazement”…
Due south of Democrat-run Denver and its homelessness crisis, conservative Douglas County has virtually eliminated its own homeless population with a simple message to its citizens:
“Handouts Don’t Help.”
There are about 70 signs with the message throughout the county, primarily at intersections and along roadways that were once popular hangouts for area panhandlers. Each sign also directs citizens to the Douglas Has Heart “Homeless Initiative” website, where they can redirect their donations to the Douglas County Community Foundation. The county also uses print media and social media ads to spread the message through the community.
Republican Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said “common sense” led him to the initiative.
The thought dawned on me from a common sense standpoint. I saw a lot of people like my daughter feeling conflicted at an intersection. If you see someone who appears to be down on their luck, it feels bad when you drive by and don’t do something – but the flip side is we all know the stories of those who maybe did not use all the funds they received in the most appropriate way. Maybe it’s going to food, maybe it’s going to drugs – you don’t know where the money is going.
Common Sense Indeed
“It seems like the more you give at those particular corners, the more people it attracts,” Laydon said, adding: “It becomes a conversation topic on the streets; if you go to this corner, you’ll get money there.”
Common sense, along with facts and logic, is a foreign concept to the Democrat Party and leftists in general.
Speaking of facts, here’s more:
Between 2022 and 2024, Douglas County saw a steep drop-off in people living on its streets, from 43 individuals to just six, according to their most recent point-in-time count report conducted by several nonprofits. Including those sleeping in their cars and in area shelters, numbers decreased from 96 total homeless people to 69, per the count.
On that day, July 29, there were no panhandlers or encampments spotted throughout the county’s five jurisdictions.
Based on its own point-in-time counts, which include those housed in shelters and on the streets, Denver counted 9,065 homeless individuals in 2023, up from 6,884 counted in 2022.
“I saw it coming from Denver,” Laydon said, continuing: “People would get off the light rail, not pay for a ticket, get off at Long Tree,” [and] next thing you know they’re asking for money on a corner.”
It was kind of everywhere, but never as bad as downtown Denver. We started at a good place. [Our smaller homeless population] gave us the opportunity to nip this problem in the bud before it became really pervasive.
Let’s think this through, from both perspectives: Douglas County residents and homeless panhandlers.
Preemptively eliminating potential violence from the county makes its citizens safer, thus lowering fear and stress. Removing homeless panhandlers from the street, some of which I’m going to go out on a limb and bet are drug addicts, potentially reduces the incidence of fatal overdoses — potentially for the homeless who take advantage of the county’s homeless initiative.
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The Bottom Line
Douglas stands in stark contrast to Democrat-run Denver, along with the likes of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other decimated Democrat-dominated cities across the country. So while leftists might call Douglas County’s initiative heartless, the opposite is true: the conservative county’s initiative demonstrates the genuine heart of its citizens.
Yet, the Democrat Party has claimed to be the “compassionate party” for more than six decades.
Go figure.
