If I might offer a suggestion…
If you specifically speak to the need, and leave money out of it, it is far less likely to be a con. Cons look for the easy buck.
Host the occasional public dinner for all to eat. And feed them well, casually dropping that your church does random dinners (and start having random dinners) will get people into church for fellowship.
Direct interaction with the utility company on behalf of the person, if its possible, for an assitance program. If the bill is overdue, there is an obvious need. Have the person sit in fellowship while the calls are being made and the bill is being verified- and if there is anyone in church who has struggled overcome poverty and homelessness, have them there to testify how God has helped them. But do this under the guise of doing office work. Don’t force it, don’t let it be an ambush.
Use the giving to serve God. Even if the person is a lazy con artist- you could be helping their children, and this will serve God. Loving others, baring witness, is how we show that there is better to strive for, live for. The con artist is the prodigal son living in the muck. Show him there is better. Indirectly, without judgement. By sharing what God has done for you.
Offer employment through the congregation and their connections. Start a work program/ mentorship program. Teach skills.
Connect with local shelters, donate money to expand them, or come together with other churches to start one. Share their existence with those in need.
Offer classes on gardening and food preservation to store food long term. And provide a way to do this by coming together in a church kitchen and preserving together as a church. And starting a church community garden on your grounds that can be used for both pantry purposes and giving others with smaller yards a way to garden, maybe to give a tenth to the church for the pantry.
Wiser practices, like growing food and keeping food longer by canning will reduce the strain and allow money to be used elsewhere. Buying in bulk, couponing.
There are ways to help and not be fleeced by a conartist.
There are also times when each of us must fall in order to pick ourselves up. To learn how to stand up with our own strength or to learn how to rely on God in faith.
But the key is to do this with compassion, as a parent would with a child. We do not destroy life by turning our backs. We provide a way forward. Encouragement, guidance. Sometimes we fall or find ourselves stuck because we need to let go of something that is not serving us in order to move foreward. We stop ourselves, so we must release ourselves. No one else can do that for us. It is a stuggle with ones own will.
We encourage healing, wholeness, a way to escape addiction without judgement. Wisdom shared from those who have overcome such struggles.