If you live in Portland, Oregon, you’ve probably seen them:homeless people with signs that read, “Pizza Schmizza paid meto hold this sign instead of asking for money.” EntrepreneurAndre Jehan, 41, pays those homeless people in slices and soda andsometimes a couple of bucks. Homeless advocates are aghast. DonaldWhitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for theHomeless, says Jehan is “exploiting” the homeless, and”any person who works a job in America should get at leastminimum wage . . . or better, a living wage. The signs aredegrading.” Not surprisingly, Jehan sees it differently.

How did this start?

Andre Jehan: I was sittingon the freeway, watching some homeless people, and I thought, theremust be something they could do to earn money- the firstthing that jumped out was they could hold a sign. The arrangementis good for me and for them. Everybody wins. And I make sure theydon’t feel embarrassed and exploited. They look forward to itand say it’s been a positive experience.

But some people think you’re takingadvantage of the homeless and doing this for thepublicity.

Jehan: This is what I’mdoing to fix a problem on my block. When people criticize, I askthem, “What are you doing to fix the problem?” I’mnot saying this is the answer to our homeless problem. This is acreative Band-Aid. They’re just holding the sign for 10 minutesto an hour. This isn’t a job, the way it’s portrayed in themedia. As for the publicity, it is improving my brand. I love theexposure, and I’d like to be doing more of this, usingmarketing to help the community with the drug problem and to helpschools. We have advertisements on public buses; I’d like to bethe first person to advertise on a school bus. I get confused whenI talk to the city about that. They don’t want the [students]exposed to advertisements, yet there are Coke machines in thehallways.

Why not hire a few homeless people towork in your restaurants?

Jehan: I’ve tried that,and I have yet to have a great experience hiring a homeless person.With one recent employee, everything started off great, and then hecame in with a black eye and a bloody lip. The next day, he washigh. Then he stopped showing up. That’s typical. There [arereasons why] a lot of people are homeless, and of course, I get introuble every time I say that.

Geoff Williams is a writer in Loveland, Ohio. He can becontacted at gwilliams1@cinci.rr.com.