> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Priest enriches homeless one dollar at a time - URL: https://www.smdp.com/priest-enriches-homeless-one-dollar-at-a-time/ - Published: 2002-12-23T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T01:10:58.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: Community, Pacific Palisades, #archive-import, Homeless *Rich and famous help priest* The line starts forming early at the intersection of Arizona and Ocean avenues in Palisades Park when Father Dollar Bill is in town. Hundreds of homeless wait hours at a stretch to shake hands with retired Roman Catholic priest Maurice Chase, who, along with a solid handshake and some small talk, hands out crisp one-dollar bills. Chase, 83, has been coming to Santa Monica for nearly a decade, standing at the same spot in the park every other Wednesday starting at 3 p.m. He sometimes hands out nearly a thousand dollars at a time. While Chase occasionally gives $5 or even $20 to some of the neediest, everyone in line gets at least one dollar note, which has earned him the street name Father Dollar Bill. “My biggest thing is to give people hope,” Chase said. “The big thing about my little ministry, I’m looking them in the eye and I’m saying you have dignity.” The idea for what Chase does came from Mother Theresa, he said. At an hour-long talk he had with the nun, who is known for her work with the poor, Mother Theresa told Chase the best way to connect with the downtrodden is to “lay your hands upon them.” “She said lay your hands on them and touch them,” Chase said. “That’s how you connect with them.” Since that day, Chase can be seen casually throwing his arm over the shoulder of some of the most unkempt of the homeless. Everyone at least gets a handshake, and he asks how the person’s been doing since the last time they spoke. Some of the toughest looking in the crowd will melt in his presence, shedding their facade and weeping as they tell him about their troubles. For his part, Chase will hug them and hold them close before offering his blessing and giving them some cash. A few months ago, a woman — who asked her name not be used in this story — approached Chase and coldly asked for her dollar bill. The woman’s face looked like she had just boxed twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. Chase asked what happened. “Nothing,” she said sternly. “I must have fallen down.” “That must have been some spill,” Chase responded. Then the tears started to trickle down her puffy red cheeks. Chase pulled her close while she cried, tenderly consoling her. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” she sobbed. “My boyfriend hits me, but I live out here and there’s no place to go. What can I do? Where can I go?” Holding her all the while, Chase told her there were ways out of her relationship and people she could go to. He asked her if she knew where to go and what to do, and she nodded. He then reached into a different pocket from where the dollar bills were kept and handed her a much larger bill. She looked at him puzzled. “Use this to get yourself a place to stay tonight,” he said. “Then decide what you have to do.” She nodded and walked away almost in a daze, blending in with another crowd that had formed around a charity handing out food nearby. Months later, Chase said he didn’t remember the encounter, but said he sees many people every week in downtown Los Angeles, where he also hands out his dollar bills, as well as Santa Monica, and they just need someone to listen. “I hug them if they want to be hugged, and I embrace them when they tell me about someone who died in their family,” he said. “Why they come, it has nothing to do with the money. The money gathers a crowd. How could I minister to people if they didn’t come?” Chase is not without his critics. Some say the dollar he gives only allows the homeless to live on the streets longer instead of helping them rise up from poverty. Others say the dollar he gives goes straight to buying drugs and alcohol. Indeed, a small industry has formed around Chase’s line. After getting their dollar bills, there are men walking around Palisades Park willing to exchange three cigarettes or a shot of whiskey for the people’s newfound wealth. More than a few take them up on their offer. Chase doesn’t hold anything against the people who use the dollar to buy a few cigarettes or a shot. He said if that’s what makes them feel good and gives them hope, then it doesn’t bother him. But he said most use their dollar wisely. Chase said there have been many incidences where people have used the money to wash their clothes, to buy a secondhand pair of shoes or to pay for bus fare. “It’s a gift,” he said. “And when you give someone a gift, you don’t know what they are going to do with it.” “I know some of them use it to buy a drink, but I like to have a drink sometimes at night, too,” Chase added. “So why would I begrudge some poor old soul the same dignity?” Others suggest instead of handing out bills, Chase should hand out hot meals along a food line, or donate his money to charities that feed the homeless and provide them with social services. But Chase counters those services are already being offered. “Food is being taken care of in Santa Monica and downtown,” he said. “Down on Skid Row they can have four breakfasts, four lunches and four dinners. If I gave them a meal ticket, they’d throw it away.” “My dollar bill, a lot of them use it to go to McDonalds and buy themselves a couple of cheeseburgers when they get tired of the stuff being served on the food lines,” he said. As a career fundraiser for Loyola Marymount University, Chase made contacts with the rich and famous that he now uses to fund his dollar-bill ministry. They include Bob and Dolores Hope, Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, Gregory and Veronique Peck and the deceased Frank Sinatra and his widow, Barbara. Every year Chase said he raises nearly $100,000 for his Skid Row charity, and not all of it comes from the rich and famous. He writes to every donor on a regular basis keeping them up to date on his activities and raising more money for his work. Most of his money comes from small-amount checks, he said. All the time spent raising money pays off when he sees hope in the faces of the poor he helps, Chase said. There’s a passage he quotes from the Bible where Jesus says, “When you’ve done it to the least of men, then you’ve done it to me.” “I shake hands with Jesus 3,000 times a week in downtown Los Angeles and at least 300 times a week in Santa Monica,” Chase said. “I go down there and spend 10 hours standing on my feet, and I come back with my body sagging, but my spirit is soaring because I see Jesus in the eyes of 3,000 people a week.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/122302-03_01.jpg) Rev. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 23, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122302.pdf?ref=smdp.com)