Do You Help the Homeless??

[Racoon]

There are myriad reasons for Homelessness.
Mental Illness, Drug Addiction, Lay-off's, War Veteran,on and on

There seems, Literaly, a Homeless man (sometimes woman) at every major intersection with a sign asking for help. There are an increasing number of homeless people around here.

"Homeless, Anything Helps, God Bless" is their usual battle cry

Is it a good thing to do? or is it enabling them to get drunk and high again?
Maybe you don't offer money. Instead you give them food or clothing, or batteries or whatever... (trust me, they like getting batteries for their walkmans )

Do you help out the Homeless?
why or why not

[Racoon]

I don't help the Homeless who I know/can tell are straight-up lying,theiving punk-ass Junkies

But there are some Homeless "people" that ARE worth considering...

[Zythryn]

Directly helping the homeless with signs on street corners? No.
Help with donations to homeless shelters and food shelves, definately

Mark

[InfiniteNow]

If he's wearing calvin klein's and nikes, and has a lands end backpack full of food, cigs, and beer... absolutely not. If he's wearing pain and hunger and sadness... I try.

[orbsycli]

i'm severely poor living on my own,
I can relate with the homeless, except I have a home.
If i've got some change I'll give it to them,
Or if they've got a harmonica I'll give them both of my ears.
All the musician bums always know that I understand them.
It's in the eyes, or maybe the ears.

My mom gives them blankets.
I love her.

[orbsycli]

it is really easy to get yourself in that position.

Imagine realizing you don't want to work
LIKE I DID
and then your parents die or something (you know, no one to help you out)

NO ONE CAN HELP YOU
you're addicted to the greatest feeling ever
HEROIN
you spend all your money on it
you've got no place to live
and you just want to die because you're so cold.

F*** society, and overpopulation.
this earth is such a strange place for us,
it can be so menacing for some
and i feel it so severely.

[orbsycli]

anyone here that has smoked weed knows how it brings ANYONE together.
It's the most social thing ever,
Doesn't matter who you are, you're all doing it for the same reasons.

I've had my sessions with homeless people,
it's so weird to hear their side of the story.

We have this local bum in our area that everybody calls Dreadlock Jimmy.
He never asks for money
Just Acid.

He looks like the craziest guy ever, pushing his cart down the road like the mad man that he is.
Turns out he got arrested for possesion at my old high school when he was my age or so,
and everything just went down hill from there.
You should see this guy, I'll try to find a picture.

I feel it though,
He doesn't want to do anything.
He just wants to live.

If my parents weren't alive I would probably be a suicidal homeless drug addict.

[Racoon]

There is a Homeless man I have taken the task of helping.
His name is Shawn; he's an old-school ZZ Top looking guy.
Dude can drink!
He's smart, funny, and surprisingly nice and jovial
I rap with him when I can track him down...

He used to sleep under the I-5 bridge on the Portland, Oregon side until the D.O.T. put bars underneath

I help him because he is Not a Junkie; just a hard, non-violent boozer.
I bring him 40's, Clam Chowder, clean socks... whatever he needs.(usually 4:20)
I've even taken him to Pizza restaraunts and movies.
He admits being too far gone to be changing now.
but Shawn is a people too!

Learning fun sociology stuff,
Racoon

[TheBigDog]

I have no guarantee that anyone I have ever helped was actually homeless. I gave a pan-handler a buck once for directions to the nearest nudie bar. I gave him another five when I saw him again afterwords. I have taken in relatives when their house burned down. I guess that was helping the homeless. Mostly I try and prevent the homeless by preparing my kids for life's challenges.

Bill

[TheFaithfulStone]

If I've got the change in my pocket, it goes to them.

I give more to them if they're honest about it. Never much though.

It's a thin line - I suspect everyone on this board is just to one side of it. What would happen if you lost your health insurance (if you have it) and then got sick? Couldn't work? Don't have family?

Then you're screwed. And you're homeless. So I try to do what I can. If they ask, and I've got it, I give it. Then again - I don't live in a big city, so there aren't a dozen homeless on every corner begging for money.

I remember the exact moment when I became a liberal in fact - er.. well MORE liberal. There was a homeless guy sleeping in a corner. We were on a school field trip. I was just staring at him. Some of the kids on the back of the bus started throwing trash at him. He flipped them the bird, and I turned aroun and yelled some colorful language. I got in trouble for cursing on the school bus.

I fight authority, but authority always wins.

TFS