In a new push to help the Champaign homeless population, the city is teaming up with local organizations — TIMES Center, a transitional living center for the homeless, and Community Elements, a mental health treatment agency — to address panhandling using an unconventional method: parking meters.

Here’s how it works: There are four parking meters around Champaign and Campustown: North Neil and Main streets, North Walnut and East Chester streets, South Sixth Street between Green and John streets and the southwest corner of Green and Wright streets. The collected proceeds are funneled toward the TIMES Center, which will help homeless men find transitional living.

Sure, the money isn’t much by traditional standards (the program took in $34 between Aug. 16 and Sept. 1), but people are going to pay for metered parking regardless.

Whether the individual is conscious of it, the money will either be directed to the city of Champaign or the homeless of Champaign. It’s a win-win situation. And when you consider that some meals cost only a few dollars, any donation is welcome.

The city funded the first four meters, identifiable by their blue color. Although the project is in its initial stages, the long-term payoff looks promising.

But Community Elements CEO Sheila Ferguson told The Daily Illini that the success of the program depends on the community’s support.

With a formalized process in place, people will know exactly where their money is going and what it’s being used for. There is always skepticism of what the money would be used for if given directly to an individual, but by using a third party such as parking meters, there is almost a guarantee that your money will be used and distributed appropriately.

Many students also express their discomfort with approaching or being approached by panhandlers. This initiative will provide students and community members with an opportunity to help but in a different setting.

However, using the meters to help the homeless creates distance between the donor and receiver. It disconnects helping homelessness from those who are homeless. We can’t assume that because these meters are in place, we can just stop interacting with and donating to the cause of homelessness altogether.

Interestingly enough, Champaign Center for Partnership executive director Erin Lippitz said in response to panhandling, “It puts a bad face on campus and a bad face on Champaign.”

But these are real people. Homeless or not, they are faces of this community. We can’t let parking meters hide the very real issue of homelessness in one of Illinois’ poorest counties, where 23.4 percent of individuals are living below the poverty line according to a report by Social IMPACT Research Center.

There’s no way to definitively recognize people’s intent when they feed these meters. At the end of the day, $34, or whatever is collected through the meters, means something.

It translates to meals, assistance with living and treatment of mental health issues. After a wait-and-see period, more meters could be on the way to benefit other organizations, such as the Center for Women in Transition.

We don’t see a situation in which the community wouldn’t want to support this initiative. As long as people need parking spots, people will continue to feed the meters, which will in turn help Community Elements and the homeless. It’s as simple as that.