Among the homeless, “Flying a sign” means holding up cardboard that asks for cash.

The Colorado Springs traffic department flies a different sign, asking people to avoid giving to beggars. The agency’s 65 new stationary signs say “HANDOUTS DON’T HELP” and “HELP LOCAL AGENCIES PROVIDE SERVICES.”

The signs ask givers to text “HelpCOS to 667873.” That action instantly returns a simple means to donate immediately through the United Way. Contributions fund agencies that help the homeless with food, shelter, clothing, employment, and counseling for addictions, mental illnesses and other conditions that sustain poverty.

As the adage goes, we can give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Or, we can teach a man to fish and feed him for life. Giving on the street offers a handout. Texting HelpCOS offers a hand up.

“A lot of people are just not aware of the vast number of local nonprofits who work in the trenches with individuals experiencing homelessness day in and day out,” said Beth Roalstad, chair of Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a consortium of providers that meet diverse needs of the homeless.

“The needs of this population are as varied and diverse as the general population itself, but in Colorado Springs, we are very fortunate to have qualified and dedicated nonprofits who specialize in serving these individuals. We have organizations that focus on homeless youth, veterans, families, women. By supporting these organizations, residents help us reach more people in a way that is measurable and closely tracked.”

City Council President and businessman Richard Skorman said well-meaning people give to beggars, unintentionally doing more harm than good.

“I understand and empathize with those who are moved to give to panhandlers,” Skorman explains, in a city news release. “But what people don’t realize is that by doing so, they may unknowingly be supporting a negative substance abuse habit, creating a serious pedestrian safety issue or perpetuating an unhealthy lifestyle by discouraging people to find real help. That’s what’s so great about this HelpCOS effort. It gives people an instant way to make a measurable, positive difference.”

Skorman’s insights reflect those of professionals devoted to helping the homeless.

Predictably, the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has a gripe with the city’s new signs. The activist group reliably opposes most long-term efforts to help the homeless rise from poverty.

The First Amendment protects free speech, and therefore allows signs. ACLU Colorado spokesman John Krieger said the HelpCOS signs interfere with a beggar’s First Amendment right to seek donations. Let’s see… Beggars have rights to use signs. Meanwhile, no sign should offer a better means of helping them — because of a law that protects signs. Third-graders offer less juvenile logic.

Eric Tars, senior attorney for the left-wing National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, complains HelpCOS signs insult beggars.

“It kind of falls into the general picture of homeless and poor people as people who are irresponsible with their money,” Tars said.

Correction: It kind of falls into the general picture of understanding someone begging for change has financial problems, regardless of cause. Handing that person a bill feels good. Sustainable help, by contrast, involves funding established charities that provide the homeless with food, shelter, counseling and health care.

In promoting his phony concern about besmirching the poor, Tars argues “there’s no judgment given to how wealthier people spend their money.”

Devoid of logic, invoke class warfare. Truth is, people of all classes face judgment when asking for cash. They defend charitable income and expenditures to the IRS. They answer to skeptical donors, competing charities, and their boards of directors. Anyone asking for money, rich or poor, endures “judgment.” It is the burden of using other people’s money.

Homeless individuals have the right to ask for money while standing in public. Passersby have the right to give or walk away. Discerning contributors text HelpCOS, to 667873. They offer a hand up, not a hand out. They provide a future of fishing, not a solitary fish.

The Gazette editorial board