911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½ν School of Social Work project explores why people βfly signsβ in medians

911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½ν School of Social Work student Katy Finch and Professor Thomas McLaughlin, M.S.W., Ph.D., are working on a project that delves into the reasons people stand on medians or along the street holding signs and asking for money.
Finch and McLaughlin spent three days in January 2017 interviewing people engaging in this practice, known as βflying a sign.β Finch wrote about the process in a βMaine Voicesβ piece in the Portland Press Herald titled, βFor those standing on the median, βflying a signβ is an exercise in humility.β
Those interviewed shared what they used the money for, how it felt to fly a sign and what circumstances led them to do it. βThe experience of standing on the median or sidewalk with a cardboard sign and asking for money is a degrading one,β Finch wrote. βWhen we asked them βHave you ever had to ask for money?β most of the people on the street said they had, and that it was hard. During the interviews, we heard passers-by yelling βGet a job!β which only adds to the humiliation.β