It's pretty hard to miss them anywhere you drive in South Bend throughout the day, standing on street corners, signs in hand.

But some Common Council members are looking to put those panhandlers to work.

Councilman Oliver Davis is hoping to replace the signs with a minimum wage job.

Davis and three other council members are sponsoring a bill to adopt a plan similar to that of Portland, Maine and Albuquerque, New Mexico where panhandlers clean up the city.

"Uncomfortable, awkward, and unpleasant" this is how the proposed resolution describes the city's panhandler problem.

People have tried to bring down panhandling activity in South Bend and across the country before, but it doesn't always pan out.

"People have their freedom of speech," Davis said. "They can come on public property and raise their sign and say 'Will work for food.' They can do that. That's their freedom of speech. Those cities who have tried to stop that, found themselves losing in court."

Despite efforts, there are still a lot of people begging for money. Even some who don't need to be on the street.

"There's probably over 60 percent of the people who utilize the funds that they receive to take care of food, water, shelter, and other things," Davis said. "So we cannot be discouraged because there are people who are fakers."

So this new resolution would hit two birds with one stone. It decreases the amount of panhandlers you'd see driving down the road, and it would also help out the people who actually need the help.

"Those who are out there that are looking for some support, some strength, some crutches in a sense, because they've been broken," Davis said. "We can provide some crutches for them until their legs get stronger and then they can move forward."

The fakers and those who don't want the offer would still be a out on the town, but the hope is at least some people can get the help they need.

"There are people who will not accept the crutch and continue to be lame," Davis said. "But for those who accept it, let's do something as a city as we prepare our 2018 budget to move forward."

4 out of the 9 council members are already signed onto the bill as co sponsors, so it just takes one more member to get the panhandlers some paying jobs.

Davis hopes this isn't just a local solution.

He wants other people to read about the plan if it passes. He hopes they get inspired to do something similar in their city so it can affect millions of people across the country.

The pilot plan is set to use $25,000, just like Portland when it started the program. But we first have to find out if the resolution passes next Monday on June 12th.

Read the full resolution below: