Baltimore is using parking meters to curb panhandling and raise awareness for homeless advocacy

As anyone who lives in the Bay Area knows, issues related to parking meters can sometimes get very contentious and that’s an understatement.  But what if instead of generating controversy, parking meters were being used to fight a social ill? Instead of only preventing yourself from getting a ticket, feeding a meter also meant doing good for your community?

Well in a number of cities such an experiment is underway.  Painted in a special color so as to stand out from the others, special meters have been installed with all the proceeds going directly to services such as shelters, housing, job counseling and health care.  The programs are in place to discourage panhandling reasoning that money towards services would go further towards helping people.

The idea was first tried in Baltimore and has spread to cities like Denver, Chattanooga and Las Vegas. In Baltimore they’re located around the touristy harbor area, and when coins are deposited, the dials click from “despair” to “hope.”  In Denver they’ve used this as part of an effort to curb panhandling which is down 92%.  There, the meters have raised almost $100,000.

The idea of parking for social change is one that could easily be adapted and a catch on in the Bay Area which has a high rate of charitable giving, and a history of taking an unusual approach to parking spaces.

(photo via flickr user ktylerconk)

Do you know someone who’s making a difference by volunteering in your community? As part of their celebration of National Volunteer Week, United Way partners the Volunteer Center recognizes outstanding volunteers, nonprofits and businesses.  The nominations are currently being accepted until March 9th, and cover six areas from favorite nonprofits to outstanding efforts by a board member.  To find out where and how to submit your entries visit the Volunteer Center.

Every year, Marketplace from American Public Media (and found on most NPR stations) does a weeklong series on giving and philanthropy. This year’s was especially interesting dealing with among things issues like donor choice fundraising, and the growing phenomena of people who used to give now asking for help. Visit their site to see a synopsis of each episode and hear the whole series.

The 19th annual Week of Caring was a tremendous success, and now that we’ve had time to catch our breath, we’d like to update everyone with the numbers. More than 8,000 employees from all across the Bay Area took place in what is the largest corporate volunteer event in the country. In all more than sixty companies took place and completed almost 200 projects at local nonprofits. And nonprofits couldn’t be more appreciative of the effort. Without this event many projects wouldn’t be done or would be a much bigger hardship.

One example of this is Opportunity Junction, a Contra Costa County organization which needed new desks for its computer lab. They submitted the request to us and through Week of Caring a team of employees from Chevron Marketing Solutions responded and got to work. They were able to finish the job and even added an extra task two, as the team leader rounded up friends and family to complete the task over the weekend.

This year, Wells Fargo & Co. had the most volunteers this year with almost 3,300 people doing everything from serving meals at Glide, packing and prepping food at the local food bank, working senior at On Lok to even helping out young people at Larkin Street Youth Services. Thanks to them, and to all of our volunteers who gave us a bit of themselves. Along the way, a lot of lives were touched and the volunteers had a great time, but the nonprofits were even more thankful.

Hope to see you out there in the community next year when we celebrate 20 years of making it fun and easy for the Bay Area to LIVE UNITED!

See photos from this year’s event – maybe even see yourself here.

By the Numbers:

• 8,000+ Volunteers
• 700+ projects
• 150 nonprofits helped
• 60+ Companies
• 7 Days