Alicia Abelson
WMAL.com

SILVER SPRING, MD. — (WMAL) Montgomery County lawmakers are concerned that downtown Silver Spring is becoming a magnet for panhandlers and creating a spike in the homeless population.

The County Council’s Health and Human Services Committee received a report Monday from county staffers that shows people from other parts of the county as well as D.C. are making their way into Silver Spring’s gentrified commercial business district to beg for help.

“A lot of the folks that we’re seeing are coming from other jurisdictions,” Councilmember Craig Rice said. “Even though there is right to shelter in DC, the reality is is that they make more money here panhandling,” he added.

While both panhandling and homelessness are climbing in numbers, the two are not necessarily intertwined. As Montgomery County Council member George Leventhal pointed out, “there may be some overlap, but they’re different universes.” In other words, some people are commuting into the county to panhandle.

Aside from distinguishing between the homeless and panhandlers, Leventhal also suggested that county staff create a database of panhandlers in the area to accompany the data they are producing about the homeless for President Barack Obama’s Zero 2016 challenge.

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