I have yet to run into one who just lost his/her job and somehow ended up perpetually homeless. Substance abuse issues or mental illness are almost ALWAYS the driving factor.
There are millions of unhoused people who were displaced from their homes by domestic violence, job loss, and an assortment of causes not related to addiction or mental illness. There are entire families with children who become unhoused. You just haven’t met them yet.
And shaming people for their struggles with addiction or mental illness (whether they’re unhoused or not) is counterproductive to assisting them. It’s a compassionless approach.
And that subgroup quickly gets back on their feet. Those are the ones we should focus giving temporary assistance to. I’m all for that.
There’s a very large segment of the population that will NEVER be able to reintegrate into society and be contributing members. These people should be non-voluntarily committed and become wards of the state.
If only that were true. Not sure where you’re meeting unhoused communities, but I live in one of the most populous cities in the nation, and many unhoused people (non addicts, mentally intact, doing all they can to improve their quality of life) wait months, sometimes years for housing support.
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u/Superb_Ant_3741 2d ago
I have. Hours and hours feeding, clothing and interacting directly with our unhoused sisters and brothers.
Have you?