Why waste money by helping the homeless?

Answer 1

Homelessness is mostly caused by mental illness. There are other reasons too, of course, but mental illness is a primary reason. Mental illness is as valid an illness as is cancer or Heart disease. It is not the fault of the ill person that they have a mental illness and they should not be discriminated against any more than someone with Diabetes or cancer.

Now assisting homeless people is an act of charity just as if you were to sponsor a needy child overseas. Acts of compassion are rarely looked upon as being a waste. It may be more worthwhile to give money to an organized charity that assists the needy instead of directly giving a homeless person money out of your pocket.

Another option might be to sponsor research into mental health treatments that can help homeless people in the long term with new treatments or clinics.

BELOW IS AN ADDITION:

In some cases maybe it is a waste of money; many homeless are using the money that we give them to drink and use drugs. But then there are thousands upon thousands who are homeless, due to no fault of their own. They have lost their job, and unable to obtain a new job they have lost more; they have lost their homes. Can you imagine how much harder it is to find a job when you have no place to live. Anyway, they have no way to keep their clothing, to wash, dry and iron cloths, no way to stay clean, to wash their hair, to shave, apply make-up all the things needed to impress an employer. Without a permanent address or phone there is no way to find out if there is a job offer; except showing up and asking if there is an employment offer, which can prove embarrassing, and is not generally socially accepted. In many cases, they cannot get food stamps without an address, although some states are becoming a bit more lenient in this regulation.

The homeless are not homeless by choice, even those who drink and do drugs, don't choose to be homeless. And it is not just adults who are homeless, there are homeless children too.Some are homeless due to mental illness, or they have become mentally unstable due to being homeless. They have no place to stay warm, to fix food, to wash themselves or their clothing. There are so many homeless people, that the shelters are full, which leaves the unlucky sleeping under freeway overpasses, railroad bridges, trees, cardboard boxes, wood pallets with tarps over them, abandoned houses … any place where they can find some form of cover. They are often wet, cold, frost bit ... in the winter, and sun burned, dehydrated … in the summer. They are hungry and tired, and always on the move, to find food and warmth. If they are lucky enough to have a car to sleep in, most cities' have laws that won't allow them to park on the street. Nor do they have to excess money for gas, so they can keep moving around; and not get caught parking where they are not suppose to be.

Now that there are so many people without jobs, the homeless population has grown. There are those who still have a home, but not a job; they are unable to help the homeless because they are struggling to keep themselves from becoming homeless too. Some of those with jobs have taken pay cuts or a cut in hours and their budget doesn't allow them to help the homeless.

Answer 2

Sometimes homeless people will use money to buy alcohol or drugs that will hurt them, instead of using it for a good purpose. Many times, even if you ask them, they may lie and say they're going to use it for food or a place to stay, when they know they are going to use it for alcohol or drugs instead. One thing that you can do instead, is buy a meal and bring it to a homeless person, or work with a charity or organization that helps street people, which will know how to help them without giving them money for drugs or alcohol.