Homeless advocates had both praise and criticism for the program.

James Birge '95, who runs the University Lutheran shelter for Phillips Brooks House, said he supports the program as long as it can provide homeless people with an opportunity to purchase necessities.

"I think it's a very good idea as long as enough flexibility is built in to allow people to buy beverages, food and blankets as need be," Birge said.

But James Stewart, director of the First Church Shelter in Harvard Square, said he could not support the program in any guise because it creates a money system targeted at a specific population.

"I don't think it's necessary to set up a second class economy for people who have already been stigmatized by having to beg out in the street," Stewart said.

Stewart said although he supports Spare Change's other endeavors, he believes the program is founded on the mistaken assumption that panhandlers, who he called stemmers, are substance abusers.

"I disagree with [Coupons Inc.] that everybody stemming out in the streets is using [the money] to get high," Stewart said.

Eliot Bush contributed to the reporting of this story.