Denver is placing 50 more donation meters along downtown streets to raise money to help the homeless. They are in addition to 36 existing meters that were installed in early 2007.
Themeter program is designed to increase awareness about Denver’s 10- year plan to end homelessness and to redirect money given to panhandlers.
“Every coin that goes into these donation meters goes through the Mile High United Way and back out to the homeless providers in Denver to create new housing, jobs, and services for the homeless,” said Jamie Van Leeuwen, project manager of Denver’s Road Home.
“Since implementation of Denver’s Road Home, panhandling on the 16th Street Mall is down 92 percent, overall homelessness is down 11 percent, and chronic homelessness is down 36 percent.”
The initial 36 meters collected 70,690 coins in their first six months of operation, raising $8,446.50.
In addition, each meter is backed by a sponsor who pays $1,000 per year.
