Posted on 01/16/2006 11:24:09 AM PST by ApplegateRanch
Publicity about a pair of ‘affluent’ Ashland panhandlers has cut handouts for some others who say they’re lucky to get enough for food
Jenah Dodge panhandled in downtown Ashland Sunday carrying a cardboard sign that declared she was pregnant.
A passerby cried out, "I’ve heard that one before."
Dodge, who showed her swollen stomach to prove she was pregnant, just shrugged the comment off, saying, "I never lie when I get money. I believe in karma."
While the 20-year-old, who says she gets $20 to $30 a day, hasn’t noticed a drop-off in donations, other panhandlers say the publicity about an Ashland couple who describe themselves as "affluent beggars" has been bad for business.
"I’m pissed off about it," said 20-year-old Cliff, who wouldn’t give his last name.
He’s referring to Jason Pancoast and Elizabeth Johnson, who have gained notoriety lately because they say they make from $30,000 to $40,000 annually panhandling. On good days the couple, who have three children, can make as much as $300, and once they made $800.
Cliff, who said the most that anyone he knows makes is about $50 a day, said other homeless people also have complained to him that they have been making less.
However, he added that other factors could be playing into the decline in handouts. "Definitely dude, it goes down with the season."
Cliff’s friend, 22-year-old Garrett Johnson, said that he’s happy to get $5 or $10 to pay for something to eat.
Johnson said he likes his vagabond life. "I’m just traveling," he said. "Nothing holds you down. It makes you feel free."
Cliff, who also says his itinerant lifestyle makes him feel free, said he’s seen Pancoast and Johnson around town looking for money.
"I asked her to help me out once," he said. "She seems more smug than a lot of people on the streets."
Dodge, however, didn’t bear any ill will toward the couple. "Good for them," she said. "I’m glad people are helping them out."
She said that for a family of five, $30,000 to $40,000 a year is not a lot of money.
Dodge said she got a medical discharge from the Army because she had uterine cancer. She said the military didn’t help get her back on her feet, and her parents rejected her, forcing her to live on the streets.
Asked how she could get pregnant with the cancer, Dodge said, "It’s a blessing from God. Ten doctors said I was barren."
She said she didn’t know how long she had been pregnant, estimating she’s between two and four months along.
Dodge usually sleeps outdoors at night next to an Ashland church, but she didn’t think her lifestyle would hurt the fetus. "I’m a third Cherokee, and my ancestors slept outside," she said. "My baby will be strong."
Seanna Sharpe, 18, of Ashland stopped by to talk with Dodge and see if she could offer her some help.
"I wanted to pray with her because I was in the same condition," said Sharpe, adding that she lived off the streets but wasn’t pregnant. She estimated that Dodge was probably at least three months along.
After hearing about the backlash from the community about the affluent beggar couple, Sharpe said, "People in Ashland need to learn what love means."
Another homeless woman, who said her name was Butterfly Samson, said she was amazed at the amount of money Pancoast and Johnson make.
"I think it’s pretty good for them," said the 30-year-old, who estimates she can make up to $65 or $70 a day. "More power to them."
Samson said she is permanently disabled, suffering from scoliosis, and has had other problems with "court filings." "We’ve had a rocky few years," she said.
Samson said she earns what she needs to survive, and doesn’t waste her money on alcohol or drugs. "All I want is food right now," she said. "I’ve got a dog. I’ve got a husband. We need the necessities."
Unlike Pancoast and Johnson, who stay in a motel, Samson says she sleeps outdoors at night.
"I’ll sleep anywhere I can lay my head on without the cops catching me," she said, adding that after a chilly Saturday night, "I woke up and my toes were numb."
Pancoast said he and his wife are lying low for a few days because of all the publicity, staying in an Ashland motel and avoiding any panhandling.
The state Department of Health Services audited the couple’s income on Friday, he said. "They were trying to find out if we were making $50,000 a year," he said.
Pancoast, who said the notoriety has been intense, said he’s gotten into heated discussions with some people as he wanders about town.
"A lot of people are freaked out about it," he said, adding that he won’t be trying to ask for money in the next few days. "We haven’t been collecting anything lately."
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com.
LOL. It is a job to them, isn't it?
Whatever the explanation, it isn't genetics.
Samson said she earns what she needs to survive
..and they can be their own 'Assistant Manager'.
"One of her grandparents must have been a Cherokee hermaphrodite."
And a self-impregnating one, at that.
Perhaps Seanna Sharp should ask jenah Dodge to move in with her.
After all, she's be taking a homeless person off the street and putting a roof over their head.
I doubt she will thought. People in the age bracket as Seanna have been tought that the govt should be responsible for everyone at all times.
I had an NCO in Korea who went to Thailand on mid-tour leave....he came back and was telling me about this beautiful, exotic woman he had met...she was, "one-half Thai, one-half Indian, and one-half white."
I just told him that sounded too good to be true...in a purely mathematical sense, of course.
And a self-impregnating one, at that.
of course!
What an arrogant fool!
It is, if someone else is working to earn it.
"Cliff, who said the most that anyone he knows makes is about $50 a day, said other homeless people also have complained to him that they have been making less."
Well that does it!
What these folks need is a UNION!
quote from article "Johnson said he likes his vagabond life. "I’m just traveling," he said. "Nothing holds you down. It makes you feel free.""
ROFL ! there is the real truth. They choose to be homeless.
Of course they would never allow you to show this article over on DU, the truth is to scary for them.
It wasn't too long ago that we were called "cold hearted" for not helping folks on the street becasue, "Nobody would choose such a life themselves!"
They DO have unions!
How else do you think they keep getting pregnant?
Well, I am convinced that this loser is just blowing smoke, but it is possible to get close:
(1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/64) = (65/64)/3 = approx 11/32
Close enough for tunnel work...
"Dodge said she got a medical discharge from the Army because she had uterine cancer. She said the military didn’t help get her back on her feet, and her parents rejected her, forcing her to live on the streets."
Not quite enough inf for any of that to make sense...sounds like BS. And why didn't the reporter verify her story?
You're right.
Although the beggars I worry about are those who come in government with guns and "begging" with metal to our heads for mo'monay! CPS with Munchausen syndromes by proxy and other ghouls glad to see kids getting whacked to get more funding pleas.... all for their exploitation programs and dumbing down public education programs ... it creeps me out the most.
There will be a time when we will not be free to give to anyone coz the guberment will have gotten it all and forbiden the practice, especaly towards our own families.
In Boston some of them jangle their plastic cups right in your face and get in your way as you walk down the sidewalk. I have literally pushed some of them out of the way, and in one case swatted the guy's money cup out of his hand. A 20-something wearing a pair of $150 Nikes and a LaCoste sweater. Just shameless.
Of course, a lot of people here just love them. They'll run across the street to put money in the cup, or buy them a latte and a sandwich from Starbucks. As Milton Friedman said, if you want to get more of something, just subsidize it. For some bizarre reason, liberals love having panhandlers around. Maybe they see it as a career option for themselves.
That's what I make on a real job before taxes and such. Sounds like he's smarter than I am.
Her Mommy pulled a train. It was a toss-up on who was the Daddy.
Look at this first picture:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1555515/posts
And now look at this:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cluster?q=BOB+Sport+Utility+Baby+Jogging+Stroller&pid=2044310871563874470&oid=4510661311605780622&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=&addr=&scoring=p&hl=en
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