While driving around the city, you pull off the highway and head toward a traffic light, where you suddenly see an unkempt person holding a cardboard sign. What do you do? Do you look away, or reach for loose change? Do you read the person’s sign, or try to completely ignore the human being standing beside your vehicle? The sign might read, “Anything Helps” or, “Hungry.”

Should you offer some coins? A dollar? Five dollars? How much is enough? Will it really help the person, or will they take your money and use it for drugs or alcohol? Should you go buy a bag of cheeseburgers for them?

While you might wrestle with yourself emotionally, from behind a locked door, where you’re able to adjust temperature settings, wearing clean clothes, and being free to travel to your destination, the person on the outside doesn’t have those luxuries.

Do you feel guilty for being fortunate, and feel obligated to give of your excess? Or do you look at the individual with distrust and disgust? Are you upset that the person who is asking for your money is trying to get something for doing nothing? Or does it bother you that other people who give to that person are enabling them to continue what they are doing?

Pope Francis recently stated, “It’s okay to give homeless people money and we should not worry about doing so. One’s way of giving is as important as the gift. You should not simply drop a bill into a cup and walk away. You must stop, look the person in the eyes, and touch his or her hands.”

Whatever your stance, try to picture life from the other side of your vehicle’s window. Envision your own curbside existence behind the cardboard sign. This is no camping trip. You have no house, no car, no job. The weather is intermittently brutal, and comfort is a long lost friend. You look at this line of cars at the traffic light, thinking of how nice it would be to have control… over anything. Looking over their steering wheels, judging eyes rake your soul, and you might wonder how life has brought you to this point. Feeling insignificant and devoid of pride, you are at the mercy of the benevolent.

Life is messy, and every person has a story. Each individual has struggled with the hand that they’ve been dealt. Sometimes their experiences have plunged them to the depths of humility, and hope is out of sight. But fortunately for some, the Curbside Chronicle provides a hand-up, rather than a hand-out.

For more than four years, the Curbside Chronicle has offered a way for people to earn some cash, and to provide an informational publication to those willing to buy it (for a small donation). The company’s mission is to employ and empower homeless and low-income individuals in Oklahoma City. As a way to help end panhandling, the publication was developed to provide a voice for the homeless. Many of the articles inside are written by people who have experienced homelessness, which provides a candid look into the lives of the less-fortunate. The sharing of this information builds community between homeless and non-homeless individuals.

Here’s how the business works: After some initial training and registration, vendors are given 15 free magazines to sell for a suggested donation of $2. After those magazines are sold, the vendors can purchase magazines for 75 cents each, and keep 100% of the profits from sales. People who sell the magazines gain valuable business experience, and it eventually allows them to transition into housing. People who buy the magazine develop a better understanding of conditions on the street. Your loose change can help them to make a personal change from hopeless to hopeful.

So the next time you’re driving around the city, and you see someone standing on the edge of the road, if they are holding the Curbside Chronicle, consider that your personal opportunity to learn more about homelessness, and to help make a difference in someone’s life.