Roadside beggar has her say: ‘I want to work’

Dec. 14--Tiffany White said three felonies on her criminal record have prevented her from passing background checks for numerous jobs.

So, to help pay rent and support her two children, White, 40, takes up residence three or four times each week near a Millcreek Mall entrance on Peach Street and solicits money from motorists departing the shopping center.

She displays a worn cardboard placard that reads "Hotel + Food. 2-Kids. Far From Home. Please Help. God Bless."

"It's embarrassing and degrading," said White, an Orlando, Fla., resident who said she has been stranded in Erie since June. "I want to work."

White is among a growing legion of people who routinely stand near interstate highway offramps or near stores and businesses along busy upper Peach Street and solicit money.

Other popular spots for this activity are on Interchange Road at the Interstate 79 north- and southbound offramps in Millcreek Township and the Interstate 90 east- and westbound offramps to Peach Street.

Earlier this week, White stood for a couple of hours in snow showers and bitterly cold temperatures at the Millcreek Mall, hoping some motorists might be more willing to dig into their pockets during the holidays.

"I don't come out here just for the money," she said. "I do not do drugs, but a lot of people who do this make us look bad because they do come out here. I talk to the other people who hold signs, and some of them run off and spend their money on drugs. That drives me crazy."

Most motorists give her a dollar or two. A person once gave her $100, she said.

She averages about $100 a week.

"I do positive things with people's money," White said. "I don't do anything negative with it."

Some officials believe there are better ways for those who solicit near interstate ramps and stores to obtain assistance without panhandling.

"Some of these people on the ramps and in front of stores, we've tried to send our outreach workers out to them," said Mark Alexa, a housing specialist with the Erie County Department of Human Services.

"They've sort of resisted coming into shelters and working with us," he said. "We can bring them out of the cold and help rebuild their lives, but they have to meet us halfway.

"Our outreach workers go out at least once a week and try and talk with them if we can find them," he said.

White said she is not a scam artist.

On her worst days, some motorists will hurl a barrage of insults her way.

She's grown accustomed to being told "You're a loser" and "Get a job."

"If I could, I would," White said. "That hurts my feelings. Some people are really mean, and they don't understand."

She remembers one motorist who said nothing, but rolled down a window and threw a can of pop at her.

"If I had a choice, I would not be out here," she said. "I would work in a heartbeat. I literally spend three hours a day at the library on the computer looking for jobs and filling out applications, because that's all you're allowed. "

White said she and her boyfriend came to Erie, where her former husband lives, in late June to visit two of her children.

White said their vehicle was totaled after it was hit by a drunken driver who did not have insurance.

"We only had liability, so we lost our car," she said. "We came here for a visit, but ended up having to stay because we lost our car."

White said three felonies on her criminal record have kept her unemployed, forcing her to panhandle.

"About 2003 and 2004, I got some charges because of my ex-husband," White said. "I got in trouble trying to cover him, and they've followed me around. I can't get a job anywhere. I can't pass a background check.

"I've been hired at Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Dollar General in the area, but they had to rescind the job offers because I didn't pass the background check," she said. "It's embarrassing, it's degrading to myself, but I have to keep a roof over our heads."

The Rev. Jerry Priscaro, a Catholic priest in residence at St. Ann, St. Casimir and Holy Family parishes, believes the majority of people who solicit money in high-traffic areas "are legitimately in need of something."

"Sometimes people fall through the cracks, and some of these people ... are either not aware of help available or have not applied for help available," Priscaro said.

He believes some of the people he sees soliciting are military veterans and others are transients headed to another destination.

"But there's the question of whether they're trying to raise money for some other need," Priscaro said. "There's a lot of questions to be asked, but I feel there's a need to be sensitive that they have a need that's not being met. I don't think anyone is getting rich doing it."

Some people think the "ramp people" are scammers, while others believe their actions are legitimate and that they are getting a bad rap.

"Given the weather and the cold of the past several days, if they are standing out in that, they must have some serious need for that money," Priscaro said.

"Our community has so many assets and resources for the poor. I don't see how anybody can go through this community without having those needs met," he said.

White said she recently moved into an Erie apartment.

She began soliciting money in the summer, she said.

White said living in a shelter "is not a place you want to be."

"I had to give up all my belongings, my furniture, my kids' pictures," she said. "All kinds of stuff in an apartment you have to give up to live in a shelter or in a hotel. We lived in a hotel for the longest time, and had to come out here every day to make money to pay for the room."

RON LEONARDI can be reached at 870-1680 or by e-mail.

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