Posted on 01/13/2006 11:14:39 AM PST by ApplegateRanch
Couple fend off public ire following news article
ASHLAND — Sudden notoriety and public condemnation have surprised an Ashland couple who make a living as panhandlers and refer to themselves as "affluent beggars."
Jason Pancoast and Elizabeth Johnson, who have three children, think the public has been taken aback by their unconventional image of a well-fed, well-dressed family that lives off the streets.
"What has happened is that we’re going along with a lifestyle that you couldn’t imagine we should have," said 34-year-old Pancoast.
A story in Sunday’s Mail Tribune about the couple, who sometimes make up to $300 a day and once made $800, triggered an outcry from local residents and sparked the interest of national media.
People in downtown Ashland have yelled at Pancoast and threatened him since the story was published, he said.
Angry e-mails and letters to the Mail Tribune and freelance writer Jennifer Margulis have described the couple as tax evaders, bad role models for their children, "common thieves" and abusers of a food stamp program designed to help people temporarily down on their luck. Pancoast and Johnson said they receive $500 a month in food stamps.
Local radio talk shows have spent airtime taking calls about Pancoast and Johnson, and the couple appeared this week on a Portland radio show. Fox News also expressed interest in interviewing them.
Instead of the usual image of the homeless begging for money to buy alcohol or drugs, Pancoast and Johnson are relatively clean-cut and use their money to get a safe place for their children to sleep, a warm meal and good clothes, they said.
"We’re challenging the stereotype of being a beggar," said 30-year-old Johnson.
But former Ashland mayor and local businessman Alan DeBoer, who gave Johnson $200 before Christmas, said that after learning more about the couple, he believes they are conning people — even using their 3-month-old baby as a prop.
DeBoer said he now regrets his generosity toward Johnson and would not give her any more money.
"I wouldn’t," he said. "I may never give anybody a dime again."
DeBoer said he would prefer to give donations to local organizations such as ACCESS Inc. that screen their clients. "They have the training to verify this stuff," he said.
He gave the money to Johnson after she gave what he thought was an "eloquent" speech at an affordable housing committee meeting.
DeBoer said begging has become so commonplace that you find people at almost every freeway off-ramp.
"You almost have to make panhandling in Oregon illegal," he said.
Pancoast, who estimates he and his wife can make $30,000 to $40,000 a year panhandling, said he doesn’t understand why someone with the kind of wealth and influence of DeBoer would begrudge him from using the money to keep his family safe.
He said the rich in the country have certain expectations of the homeless that are vastly different from the way he tries to live.
He said that he and his wife have no assets and are currently living in an Ashland motel. The couple were staying at another local motel, but the manager asked them to leave because of negative publicity, Pancoast said.
The couple say they stay in motels because it is difficult for a family with no consistent income and three children to find housing.
Pancoast, who is outspoken in many of his beliefs, said Ashland is being run more and more by the rich who can’t tolerate different lifestyles.
Pointing to the expensive homes on the hills surrounding town, he said, "Is this community theirs or is it ours?"
He said DeBoer could do more for the homeless if he found a solution to the affordable housing problem locally.
Pancoast, who admits he has a different perspective on reality than most, said he would like to get a job and stop living off the street.
"Ultimately it may seem like a cakewalk, but it takes a lot of energy to deal with it," he said. "We have to stay on the run usually."
Pancoast and Johnson said getting jobs would mean sacrificing time with their children.
Patty Claeys, chief executive officer of ACCESS, said all parents would love to stay home with their children, but the reality is that most people have to work to support their family.
While she applauds the couple for apparently taking care of their children, she said, "As long as people live in that kind of lifestyle, what are they teaching their children?"
She said ACCESS could help the couple find a house, but they would have to show some kind of income.
Claeys thinks the couple would be better off getting a job, and because of their large family they would pay little in taxes.
However, because some people have difficulty fitting into a job situation, she said, "I almost feel they would be more successful if they called that (panhandling) their business and paid taxes on it. That way they could legitimize what they are doing and have something to show for it."
Claeys said many of the people begging for money never come to her organization looking for help.
During her 15 years working there, Claeys has passed her business card out to the homeless who stand on street corners asking for money. She has instructed her staff to let her know if someone has shown her business card.
"In all these times no one has come in and asked for food and shown my business card," she said.
Johnson, who said she has unsuccessfully tried to get housing through ACCESS, said she would like to have a more stable lifestyle for her family.
Pancoast said, "All we want is housing so I can pursue other ways of functioning without wondering where my family is."
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com.
Says a lot for Ashland, Oregon and good, old liberal Oregon where EVERONE deserves a second, third, fourth and fifth chance, plus food stamps, free medical care at the ER and the dollars of lots and lots of liberal meatheads.
It's mostly leftys giving them money I suspect. Why shouldn't they take advantage of it? It's pretty funny really.
I thought panhandling was illegal.
What a pantload. Normal people manage to work, support their children and send them to college; yes, sacrificing some time with their children as a result.
It's called adult responsibility.
Can't get credit for a loan. No credit rating, no job, no visible means of support.
I was recently in one of the larger cities in Texas and was shocked to see beggars on almost every corner. In California you might see them here and there by the freeway ramps but that was it. This city had them everywhere.
This a logical extension of the socialist agenda. I can't see why in the world the leftists in Oregon should be upset by this.
no no no no ... this is TOTALLY AGAINST the socialist agenda. these people don't have jobs, they should be on gov't assistance, there's no way they can survive without the gov't helping them..
these people are proof that the good will of people towards their fellow man can benefit them much more than the gov't. i do not approve of this myself, but i like how it shows that charity can do more than welfare.
Because. You. Didn't. Earn. It.
Ashland is a small college town. It's the home of Southern Oregon University. I graduated from there in 1988 when it was a state college. For four years I was a very out numbered hell raising conservative. This town has the biggest collection of liberal whack jobs just short of San Francisco. For example foam coffee cups are outlawed so to protect the environment and it's a sanctuary city for illegal felons (aliens). Loved reading this story and finding out how those liberal nut cases were taken. It couldn't have happened to a better bunch of people.
"Pancoast and Johnson said getting jobs would mean sacrificing time with their children."
I bet it is difficult to find a job that they only have to work from 6am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm and will pay $1500 take home each week.
IN the DC area, the average panhandler makes $800 per day. One of the new ploys are the groups of people who have a bucket and purport to get money for some charity or worse for the fire department. They pull in double the amount. Some corners, triple.
Near my house, there is a guy with five kids working the corner. I suspect that at night, he prostitutes them out.
Some corners are so valuable that the "charity" groups will pay the single bums a couple hundred to not stand at the corner.
One time, I saw a beggar holding a sign that said, "I cannot offer you anything for your money, except prayers." I drove by later that hour and saw him talking on a cell phone (back when cell phones were too expensive for the average person).
I NEVER give panhandlers money any more. I am generous to the Baltimore Rescue Mission, though.
Oh. Of course, and thanks.
Nicely phrased.
If I hear anything, I let you know.
BTW, did you see the original post last Sunday? She is from (ahem!) Madison, WI!
If you missed it, click "Affluent Beggars" here!
lol.....right.
it's theirs!
In 1984, I took a job at Rogue Valley Medical center, and my wife & I rented in Ashland for about 3-4 months, while looking for a real place to live.
We spent the next 18 or so years in the Applegate Valley. Believe me, Trashcan has only gotten more whacked over the years.
BTW, when I retired in 1997, I was still barely making what this BUM is taking in...maybe less even, considering he is also getting $500/month in food stamps, and doesn't have to pay for medical, dental, etc.
I once stopped at a guy at a corner with a "Will Work for Food" sign and offered him a job mowing lawns. He laughed at me and said "and why would I do that when I make three or four hundred dollars a day doing this?"
Good question.
"How do you think I got 'So Rich'?"
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