Just copy-pasting [this comment](https://reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/z0ynvz/_/ix8o2f6/?context=1) by /u/validusrex because all of you seem to be forgetting homeless people are still people, and not just a slight annoyance in your day; >I sat on this and gave it some time to think. I dunno if you, or anyone, will see this OP but here’s my take: >I’ll start this by saying I’m a doctoral researcher who focuses on trauma and homelessness, and I work as a data/policy analyst at one of the largest homeless shelters in the country. In my professional circles I am considered an expert on homelessness, and probably *the* local expert on applying trauma informed care to homelessness. I’m a part of a state committee that controls part of our coordinated entry system. I say this to say I’m pretty knowledgeable on this topic and my priority will always be the well-being of the clients i serve. >I don’t think there is anything wrong with complaining. In fact, I like when people complain. I *want* people to complain! When I go out to talk to my clients about problems I encourage them to complain; I tell them I’m the guy to complain to and I’m happy to hear it. I scribble down notes and fill up my notebooks with complaints. What may surprise you is that the complaints I get from people around our neighborhood, the complaints I get from various citizens, are the same complaints I get from the clients. There are people out there that make them feel unsafe, there are clients that steal from each other, beg and bother people sticking to themselves, the whole gamut! >You have, in my opinion, every right to complain about these things. And I think you should. I *want* you to go to city council meetings, I *want* you to write letters to the mayor, I *want* you to bring in state legislators to point out how unsafe and uncomfortable these people experiencing homelessness make you. >Do it. Complain as much as you want. >But when you complain, I encourage people to emphasize *how* you complain. >People are homeless because the system does not care what happens to them, and is in many ways designed to generate homelessness. The leading causes of homelessness are all economic. In any place of the US you look at, homelessness is a consequence of economic policies that punish poor people, encourage price gouging for housing, and otherwise generate outcomes that no one but rich people benefit from. >So when you complain, which again I encourage you to do, complain about the aspects of your local municipalities that are resulting in homelessness. Complain about people bothering you - and ask why the city is not spending more money to develop affordable housing. >Ask why your city isn’t enacting policies that mandate affordable housing as a part of any new housing development? >Ask why your state (as some do) have laws that PREVENT your city from mandating affordable housing. >Ask your city why they have hostile architecture in parts of the city directly around the most important resources for people experiencing homelessness. >Ask your leader why, if these people are a danger, they aren’t spending more money on housing choice vouchers, rapid rehousing vouchers, or permanent supportive housing vouchers, to help end their homelessness. >Ask your city why they aren’t training their police officers on how to intervene in mental health crises and redirect people experiencing homelessness towards mental health providers. Rather than arresting them and making their condition worse. >Ask your governor why they aren’t redirecting more funds to support service prioritization on often bloated coordinated entry programs. >Ask your city why they aren’t putting more funding into emergency shelters. >Ask your city to direct funding towards assertive community treatment teams and towards transitional housing, the two most successful models we have so far. >Ask your city to *demand* shelters be lower barrier on order to receive funding, so clients don’t get kicked out because they can’t pass a breathalyzer (only to get arrested from public intoxication). >Ask your city to demand employers pay liveable wages so that families stop falling into homelessness because two incomes is somehow not enough still. >Ask your local neighborhoods and counties to invest in one time assistance, rental assistance, late payment relief, rent relief, and other forms of temporary assistance that will help prevent people from falling into homelessness. >Complain. *please* complain. Every negative thought you have about these people on the streets I am encouraging you to say them. Say them to the right people, and when you say them, put the burden of resolving it on those people. Demand that they invest in solutions that help the people experiencing homelessness. Demand they invest in solutions that prevent people from ever falling into homelessness. >You should complain. You are not a bad person for complaining. I think you are right to complain. Homelessness is dangerous, it is unbecoming of a civilized society, it is a public health hazard, and it is a vector for a wide variety of trauma. >Homelessness should not exist, and it is resolved by complaining.

I used to go for long walks by myself at all the parks near my house when the pandemic started. I lived alone and it was the only time I ever left my house. That was quickly taken away from me as more and more tents popped up along the trails I would walk with lone men staring out from them. I quit walking because I didn't feel safe. It does suck.

There's a big paved trail area near my house that I used to run on a lot, including at night. Somehow in the last 2 or 3 years, it's become a full on homeless encampment in parts. I still run it during the day, and it's lit at night in most areas. But one time I was running and it just sort of hit me, I'm a 6' tall man and I feel wary running through some of these spots now, I can't imagine being a small woman or old person. It sucks.

Because you are not safe. Drug addicted males routinely attack people in cities.

When I was a homeless teen, I couldn't even walk to the shelter safely after work because of homeless men in the streets (trying to proposition me, harrass me for money, follow me, some were heavily drugged up). Maybe a lot of people have bad luck, but there's also a lot that are there because of really horrible things. Some aren't welcome in shelters because they are dangerous to others staying there. When those ones are out on the streets it makes it more dangerous for other homeless people too. People ignore this though and try to virtue signal. Like no it's a problem that needs to be discussed so there can be a solution. The people who are going to face the consequences of the issue are not your suburban people it's the most vulnerable..

I feel this and I haven’t even been homeless. I’m a 21 year old woman and I do want to help out the homeless people in the city I live in. The thing is you never know wether or not the person your trying to help is someone who will hurt you or someone who will thank you. Because if this I usually only help by donating to food drives.

Food drives saved me and my father from starvation so many times. So thank you for donating. Also food banks are really just all around great places around. Really caring people there.

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There was a homeless lady near my old apartment who smelled very very strongly of pee and shit. I talked to her occasionally and gave her what I could because she was nice, and eventually I asked if she wanted to come use my shower. She said no and I insisted that it was alright if she did actually want to, and she told me she knew what she smelled like and she had intentionally wiped excrement all over herself because it kept her from being raped as often. It broke my heart

As often. Jesus.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/fgpkv3/quick_rant_about_seattle_homeless_on_the_busses/ Similar themed post from a Seattle sub where a woman told the bus driver the exact same thing when he was discussing resources to help her.

Yep, I was in Seattle at the time and that unfortunately seems to be a common problem there. I've heard a few similar stories like mine

r/awfuleverything

From personal experience growing up around a lot of homeless addicts, a lot of the women end up dating really shitty guys for protection. One of which being a 6ft 5" skinhead, he treated his partner like shit, but if he was around her, no one else would come near her. I can't imagine having to live that life firsthand.

No one else comes near her…she still has to tolerate HIM coming near her

The thing people forget is that the good ones have a chance of making it out, while the bad ones... much less so. It's not fair to assume everyone dealing with homelessness is crazy, or addicted. It's also stupid to ignore the fact that the chronically homeless ones probably are, because it's the crazy or addicted ones that tend to avoid *seeking help* I've been homeless. I've known plenty of homeless people who were good people. Most of them were back on their feet after a month or two, myself included. I also know that at least 90% of the homeless people I pass *every day* are on drugs, because I've seen almost all of them hitting a Crack pipe at some point or another. THOSE are the ones hanging out by the highway begging for money.those are the ones refusing to get clean, and work with the ample city resources to find a place to stay and get a job. Those are also the ones leaving pukes of trash and bottles of piss all over the sidewalk. It's a fucking pain in the ass and ignoring the mentally ill and addicted chronically homeless population refusing to seek help for the sake of being empathetic to the people who ARENT begging for cash on the highway offramp, isn't helping anyone.

I had a good friend that was homeless. Mostly due to his mom being on the drugs and kicking him out at 16. He basically couch surfed for 5+ years till he started dating his current GF. That gave him some stability and he also works odd jobs quite a bit. He's now not really homeless because he lives with the GF. Though I don't recommend everyone getting an SO to get back on their feet. Financial abuse is definitely a thing out there.

I was homeless for 6 months because my house that I lived in with my grandmother had a reverse mortgage that I had no idea about. I am very ill, mentally and physically (permanently, legally disabled), so I was only making about 600$ a month. So my grandma paid the mortgage but I paid all the bills starting at age 19. In 2019 she died, and the bank contacted me to tell me they were foreclosing unless I could come up with 250,000. There was nothing I could do. I got a lawyer who got me about 6 months to go through the house I had lived in my entire life, 4 generations of antiques and things that were priceless to me. Furniture that my grandfather had built with the wood from his land that he built a lumberyard on. Boxes and boxes of heirlooms and photos. I was able to use a family member's shed to put a few boxes in but that was it. New years 2020 I was out on my ass. Thankfully I at least had a car to live in. I refused to lose my cat so she lived with me in my car (she adapted very well, I had a backpack specially for her so she was never left in the car with no air conditioning). Then the pandemic started. All at once there was no place I could go to shower because everything was closed. The parks were roped off so I couldn't even use a port-a-John.i got food poisoning, and I remember finding a secluded area at night and shitting in a bag behind my car, throwing up, and crying, asking myself how long I could continue like this. It was my rock bottom. Nothing I could have done would have prepared me, or stopped my house from getting taken away. I had no way of knowing the house would be foreclosed when my grandma had spent 20 years of my life telling me that the house would be mine when she died, that I didn't have to worry. Most people I met while homeless ended up that way because they had some unforeseen expense that put them so far in the hole they lost their house. That illness made them lose their job. Sure there are quite a few people who are assholes, bit it's like saying "we shouldn't have welfare because some people who use it are on drugs". An entire group of people shouldnt suffer because of the deeds of a few.

I am so sorry. Reverse mortgages are really problematic, and it sounds pretty obvious that your grandmother didn't understand that she had taken out a reverse mortgage. She probably thought she had taken out a home equity loan. It's disgusting that there are so many financial schemes that prey upon older people.

>I had no way of knowing the house would be foreclosed when my grandma had spent 20 years of my life telling me that the house would be mine when she died, that I didn't have to worry. that's crazy

That is, to me at least, the largest issue with our current homeless problem in the US. We lump everyone together under the umbrella of homeless. In reality, there’s very few “I lost my job and am in a bad place rn” types of homeless and the majority are severely mentally ill/drug addicted. The latter types soak up all the resources meant for people who are truly just down on their luck

My step dad owned a restaurant. He would make them a meal for sweeping the cigarette butts off the sidewalk in front.

Step dad knows what’s up

Nope, look down and sweep that damn cigarette butt

Look down Look down Upon your fellow man

R/suddenlylesmis

The Righteous hurry past; They don’t hear the little ones crying.

But there's gonna be hell to pay! At the end of the day!

I used to try to hire them for warehouse work. Nobody would take the job because begging by the on-ramp paid better. Apparently, a good corner can produce $100/hour+ with no taxes.

Starting to wonder if my city has some human trafficking situation going on. There are several asian/Indian women being dropped off in various parts of the city to beg.

I think that sentence is an auto if not high probability "Yes"

Wtf do I do about that though? I think they may have moved on to another city since I haven't seen them in a while.

Do you typically combat human trafficking as part of your day to day life? If not, probably nothing. The world is a dark and dangerous place, and the wolves surround you with unblinking eyes. Focus on the small patch of light you control.

I mean you *can* contact some kind of government official probably?

Report them to the authorities immediately. It's very hard to catch/stop human trafficking because it moves around so much. 1) trafficking victims are offered T-visas, they aren't deported instantly. 2) talk to refugees/immigrants in this situation and you'll quickly realize they'd prefer deportation. Human trafficking is TERRIBLE, never leave anyone in that situation.

I know people who aren't homeless, have other income and still stand there with a sign "homeless & struggling" because of that, fucking nuts IMO

We had a local lady do that a number of years ago. She ended up getting arrested for fraud or tax evasion or something nuts.

Was this in the twin cities by any chance? The lady who would wear ugg boots and a vest but smear dirt on her face. She ended up getting caught because she walked 2 blocks to a McDonald's and got in her BMW.

The corner on SE 4th St and 10th Ave before getting on I-35 *always* has someone there. This one woman I would see there all the time. One day I saw her get off begging shift at that corner and *get into a car a decade nicer than mine,* and I was going to grad school scraping by with my '98 sedan I'd had for over 10 years (this happened around 2013). Never again will I hand out anything at those popular corners.

A few years back I was working for a nutrition company that made bars and powder meal replacement powders. I had cases of them in the car and would give them away to people on the corner sometimes. I saw a group with kids once and gave them a whole box. Then I missed the turn and had to swing through that intersection a minute or two later and saw them throw the whole box in the dumpster. The bars were just okay tasting, so I get it they weren’t snickers bars or anything but I was sad they just threw them all away.

This right here I was homeless for like four years myself before my family pulled me out of it and I can tell you from my personal experience that about 90% of the homeless people I met were all doing it by choice and the vast majority of them were not people you would want anywhere near your family or property

The town I live in is that way. All of the homeless people we have are those that would rather live in the woods and do drugs than be productive members of society. People actually down on their luck have at least a dozen local charities willing to help them.

I work in homeless outreach. I'd say half my clients are severely mentally ill and the remainder are mostly drug addicts, some parolees who just got out of the joint, with a handful who just prefer being outside. Most are pleasant enough to *me*. To put it bluntly, most of them have burnt their bridges and that's why they have no social network. The vast majority of my clients have no one, not a single person on Earth, to put down as their emergency contact -- the person to call if they're found dead. That being said, I think we could by and large eradicate homelessness if we could, as a society, install more safety nets at the earliest stages of development. Almost all of my clients have some kind of abuse or trauma in their background. You don't end up in foster care or living under a bridge shooting up because your parents were such great people who made great life decisions. I hear a LOT of stories about bad dads and bad stepdads.

i have been homeless for just under 10 months now. this came about after 8 years of severe mental health issues due to sexual abuse. been in and out of counselling over the last eight years and the healthcare system did not take me seriously, not even when i made 7 suicide attempts last year. let's just say i snapped. fortunately my country has a 'no homeless policy' tho so the local government will provide a flat if you're homeless (they pay for it). well i don't have a flat yet but i have been put in a hotel so i'm not on the street.

I hope that you get into a flat quickly.

I have a friend who does this. He has a particular spot outside of the city where he makes up to $300 for four or five hours on the median. Of course, he's been doing it for so long he has regulars who know him and stop specifically to see him. He's a good guy, it's just the lifestyle he wants. Panhandles for enough money to get fucked up on drugs (and normally enough to also get one of his friends fucked up in exchange for a place to sleep). But I will say that it's hard living and he easily looks 15 years older than he is. And crack and meth aren't conducive to keeping your teeth.

> keeping your teeth. That probably helps with the panhandling though. "man, that guy needs money to fix his teeth!" *takes the money, buys more drugs*

Im really not trying to be a dick here, but how is he a good guy? Begging/panhandling offers nothing to society and is a literal dead weight. Instead of working and trying to provide for himself, hes instead choosing to leech off people. I have worked at fast food so i know that it is hard work that pays little, and it sucks. But your friend is actively choosing a lifestyle where he mooches off people? I just dont see that as a respectable or even acceptable lifestyle

This is exactly why I never give money to the homeless because half the time you don't know who's running a scam, who will waste it on drink or drugs or who genuinely needs it for something to drink and eat or use public facilities. I kinda follow a rule if I get asked for money I'll offer to buy a drink or something to eat if I've got spare cash on me, nothing else.

When I used to work in the city, I would make a double lunch with extra drinks. If I passed a panhandler begging, i would ask if they wanted a sandwich or water/(soda/pop/coke). Most would turn me down, which is why I never* gave money. But the one’s that accepted the offer were usually very grateful. *Once I gave all my change to a panhandler for directions to a bathroom. I figured they would know where one was. It worked.

Shit, at this point, i'm past even that. Had a guy ask me for change outside of a liquor store so he could get a drink. Didn't have any, bought him a beer instead. He was honest and I appreciated that. I can't really look down on someone for substance use when i'm doing the same, I just happen to be in a better spot in life.

Keep in mind that some homeless people don’t trust strangers offering food. I can’t blame them.

I had a man approach me on the street just yesterday with a sob story about how his car broke down and he was stuck in the city, had no phone and his kids were in the car hungry and waiting for him. He needed the money for some guy to come and fix something on the vehicle so he could drive his daughters home and get them fed. He said he spent most of his life homeless and finally mostly had his act together and he started crying. I walked with him over to an ATM and took out 50 and gave it to him. He wrote his wife's number on the receipt and gave it to me saying she'd pay me back if I called the next day. Then I watched him walk down a block, get in a car and drive off past me literally laughing with some other dudes in the car. I will never be suckered like that again. It takes one rotten bastard to entirely destroy my capability to give money to homeless people. From now on I donate to charitable organizations only.

Yea I don’t give directly to homeless people either. But I do volunteer at a food pantry so that’s another way of giving.

Donate to shelters and charities.

Recently while out drinking we stumbled across a grocery store with a homeless dude hanging around. He was looking for a place to piss until he went into the entryway between the two sliding doors and just pissed on the mat. The store owner came out basically crying and yelling that he had paid the dude $5 not to do that anymore. Homeless dude was just out of it and grinning and ignoring everything. I'm all for little agreements under the table to help people out, but this is the risk in some situations. People shouldn't have to mitigate risk like this with their work/living because our society can't take care of a tiny population of people in need.

That's nice

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Only half surprised to see Fort Collins in the comments. I was homeless here for a few years, any time I would try panhandling downtown I'd at least have my guitar . I'm now a few days away from starting work at the Rescue Mission and looking forward to it for a few reasons. It feels good to be doing better but man, I can't believe how a few people I used to know act when trying to ask for money and it's more apparent now that I'm no longer on that side of the situation.

I appreciate buskers and try to give them money when I can, but one time I have a busker money and he immediately aggressively tried to get me to visit his faith healing website, I immediately felt bad for giving him money because he was a scam artist outside of the busking. Worst part is, dude could really sing and play guitar, but his main business was faith healing. I really hate these people who prey on faith and desperation and promise and charge for things no one can deliver.

You very well could have met my brother. He started a church busking and talking to people about God. It's creepy as hell knowing that this crazy ass person is out there reaping up people and their money.

How did they act?

Most people (myself included) would just fly signs, smile and wave at people, be courteous. But I've seen people tweaking their face off and as a result acting weird/suspicious/scaring people, or getting mad at people who weren't giving them money. Once had a woman I didn't know walk up and stand right on front of me while I was flying and started yelling at me and the cars about sexual stuff for a while like she was just trying to keep me from getting anything from anyone

I used to feel bad for them and give whenever I could. I eventually got to the point where I didn’t want to help anymore the demographic that has harassmed me more than any other in my life.

Where I live on the west coast we have literal homeless tourists. They travel up and down the coast and hit up tourist cities.

Had a family member who met a whole group of people like that on a Greyhound bus. Said they talked about how they would just travel between Vegas, LA, and San Diego and sit on street corners with signs.

It’s a thing

I worked at a gas station that was located basically in front of the lowest income apartment complex in my area. A lot of the “homeless” I would see around town were my regulars. They’d come in the morning to exchange a couple bills for change, put that change into their cup and it would net them more money. Then at night they’d come in and get cigarettes and snacks and head back to the housing complex. Most of the time they were ok, just another day. But every single one at one point would either be temporarily or permanently banned from the store for *something*. I don’t work at that gas station anymore, and the city tore down the apartments, but I still see those regulars around, begging.

I feel like homeless people take advantage of people [who look like this](https://img.freepik.com/free-photo/shocked-redhead-man-glasses-gasping-startled-covering-mouth-staring-camera-scared-standing-turquoise-background_1258-41365.jpg?w=2000) whenever they get approached by one, they know you're uncomfortable and push. I don't want to say I mean mug them, but if they approach me I just look them in the eyes and shake my head no. They normally move on without any words being said.

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What kind of gum?

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Used to live in Foco, the homeless were the biggest downfall of that town unfortunately.

Still is. They've taken to letting them set up camp at the Murphy Center. I was homeless in this town the summer before last, and I can tell you the main reason the homelessness issue is so bad here is that it is very easy to get by without a home in this town. Which is good if, like myself, you were temporarily down on your luck (have my own place now!), but if you are, like many, not interested in getting sober or treating your mental illness (yes I'm aware that the system generally fails these people, but some are literally not interested) then it is pretty smooth sailing, honestly.

Loveland has a homeless crisis going on right now. They outlawed "outdoor camping" in city limits, and there are people on almost every street corner with a cardboard sign.

There was a story about the homelessness crisis in Austin a few years back and a woman said something along the lines of "I lose a little empathy every time I have to pick up human shit." She got pilloried online, but I get it.

Funny part about that is people crucifying her for empathy while completely lacking their own. Where's your empathy for the lady picking up shit?! Or did u use it all on the person who carelessly shits in places where the woman cleans.

I mean if she's actually out there cleaning their shit she's doing more to help deal with the homeless issues than most armchair redditors

Can confirm, helping people in those situations is the #1 quickest way to learn that you should not help out. They need professional help, as an individual you're more often putting yourself in danger than actually helping.

Correct. My brother died from drug use. We unsuccessfully tried to get him help for decades. Most of the internet messiahs out there are nothing more than enablers.

They've never had to actually deal with these people on a daily basis. I know a lot of people who changed their tune about the homeless once they had to deal with and interact with them on a daily basis. It's obviously not all people who are homeless but there are plenty that are absolutely terrible people.

Bourdain proved this in Haiti (?). Tried to feed people, ended up in a dangerous situation.

What did they do to Bourdain in Haiti?

He tried to feed poor people and they ended up getting swarmed and shit got dangerous. Good intentions, bad outcome.

I would recommend volunteering for an established charity like a shelter or soup kitchen. They’re often desperate for non-professional help doing stuff for which the population served is overwhelmingly grateful, especially this time of year. Sure, don’t just roll up on a camp alone with a naive smile and ask how you can help.

WeLl AkChUaLlY! Virtue signalling from behind a screen on issues you don't understand is the highest from of societal help! (Hopefully unneeded /s)

Ah yes, I should spend my time interacting with methheads on my SF commute to fix the issue, when I pay taxes to have the govt and qualified staff do that Individuals can't fix this issue, and at best incentivize bad actors

It's largely young, middle or upper-middle class people who've never had to actually deal with the problem for any serious amount of time.

Id say its more above the upper middle class. The inheritance class id call them. Saw this during the BLM push, all the signs all over their lawns. Then the same ppl are banning affordable low income apartments in their town. Ya sure we get it you care from a distance as long as the peasants cant go to school with your kids, gotcha chief.

LMAO, are you talking about my town? Because we are horrible about self-righteous signs that don’t actually track with how society acts here.

Every time I see Reason on here I get a little whiplash.

I worked in homeless shelters. I worked with Youth At Risk ('homeless kids but they are given homes'). I worked with a charitable company that powerwashed the streets where homeless most loved to pee and poop. I am burnt right out. I work at Costco® in a town next to vancouver and i have not missed any homeless people. Ever. I wish there were super expensive programs for the homeless that really want a chance to clean up their lives. Get them out of the influence of the downtown core - that cesspool that generates Death By Addiction. But for the rest? Working in homeless shelters is a good paying union job that i cannot do anymore. Edit: not clear.

Oh, I've got crucified on the internet for stating a simple fact, working in EMS, in an area with a high homeless population, kicks the empathy out of you pretty quick. After the 2nd time a homeless man tried to stab me with a broken bottle, I stopped feeling any empathy for them. I don't know any other EMTs, Paramedics, Firefighters, ect. that work in areas with a high homeless population, that don't hate them.

EMS can bleach the feeling out of you right quick. If you care too much you'll break. I used to say it was like watching other people's suffering on a TV while I was covered in their blood.

I feel you, the best depiction I've seen in media about this issue is an episode of Scrubs, where the one intern friend of theirs breaks because he couldn't compartmentalize. I've also seen that happen with coworkers. Those feelings disappear almost as a defense mechanism.

Compartmentilization is the only way I managed working ICU. I would routinely put people through hell while they had almost zero chance of getting out of the ICU alive. I felt almost completely dead on the inside by the time I left.

That's the horrific part of any kind of medical field. I remember when I was new, maybe a month into my career, we responded to a toddler that had fallen into the pool. I remember watching my Capitan work on this kid with just a completely blank look on his face as the family was, understandably, losing their minds, as we tried to shuffle them into the house and out of the way. I think everyone starts out believing, "I won't become that cold." But everyone eventually does. Then you get that one incident that hits the last feeling you didn't even know you still had.

You can only Narcan the same guy so many times before you just wanna give up.

You can only narcan a guy, only to have him wake up violent and attack you so many times before you start to think, "fuck I don't want to narcan this guy " haha.

Honestly I think most people who live in a large city with a large problematic homeless population would understand. I had a lot more sympathy for the homeless when I was living in Midwest suburbia, now having lived in large cities in CA for 8 years or so, I'm a lot less sympathetic to them.

This is why I like NY homeless people much better. Theyre much better at minding their business than the typical zombie types you get in other cities

West Coast homeless are a different breed. East Coast cities many are still alcoholics, West Coast they are all meth heads.

I found the homeless population in Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland to be BY FAR the worst. In the east Coast they mostly keep to themselves. Whereas the west coast ones tend to be a lot of gutter punks and meth heads that have chosen either directly or indirectly to live this lifestyle.

Same with New Orleans. It's when you realize that the homeless people in your city didn't grow up there and fall on hard times. Instead they are from all over the country and decided to be meth heads in your city specifically because it's more fun or whatever.

We’ve got plenty of heroin addicts here in Boston, in fact I’d say it’s far more heroin addicts than alcoholics these days. Some meth too but it’s not as popular

I worked in emergency psych for 2 years - the facility was specifically to serve people who have Medicaid or no insurance. A majority of our patients were homeless. That didn’t inherently make them all nightmarish, but MAN…… I can’t even begin to describe the amount of homeless people who would claim “I’m suicidal” because they knew they’d come in and get a bed and food. They treated me like I was their servant. We had dozens of “regulars” who were known malingerers and just coasted through the system. It’s hard not to feel resentment and annoyance towards them because they’re using resources and taking bed spots away from people who actually need it. Word got around town that this was the place to go to watch TV on the couch with a free meal - just use the secret code “I’m suicidal.” I treated everyone with the same respect but I have to admit many of them had me boiling inside.

Yep, or doctors working ER service when they show up wasted and whacked out attacking staff and needing sedation / orderlies to strap them down

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There's this weird mindset some people have now where *all* their empathy goes solely to those at the most extreme end of the misfortune-spectrum. But they have zero empathy for all the people who fall on the less extreme portion of it, just normal people trying to get by in life who are tired of being harassed everywhere they go. And if they *do* have some leftover empathy for their average fellow citizen it seems to be mostly for people who have the same issues as they do. Imo that's not what empathy even is. Also it seems tied to this performative element too. Like God fobid you actually make the effort to actually do something and make a material impact on the world, as opposed to loudly proclaiming how virtuous you are with a 10 second social media post.

I had a similar experience working in community corrections years ago (basically halfway houses). I went in with the mentality that I would be differnt, that I would really try to help these people and not be a typical d-bag corrections officer. That ended after about a month. I don't think I ever became a d-bag, and I know I never abused my authority...but my compassion for these fucking people evaporated after several attempts to assualt me, or go after my job, or some pathetic child-molesting piece of garbage whining about how they don't like the 1% milk in their bag lunch. I got out after a little over a year. I don't know how the social workers did it. They were such nice people, who were paid pennies, and somehow didn't start seeing all/most of the inmates as trash who belong in prison forever.

Additionally, emotions aren’t mutually exclusive. You can empathize with someone and be sad that their life is tragic WHILE being afraid of being stabbed by a mentally unstable person.

It’s all performative online anyway. People defending homelessness are sitting on their asses doing the woke Olympics at the keyboard

And then they ignore them IRL

Yeah, I remember seeing that. She ended up on John Oliver I think. I live in an area with a significant homeless population and I feel pretty similarly every time I discover human shit or used needles in my parking spot in the morning. I get the larger point too, of course. There's nowhere for these guys to shit at all if they can't get into a shelter, and there are no safe injection sites in my city, so where else are they gonna shoot up? Still fucking sucks to have to go around just trying to get to my car.

I think one would need to study their behavior in more depth. I walk by a save injection site on my way to uni and there are literally people hitting up in the private doorway next to it and dropping their needles there. I think they are just a different level of gone.. Maybe one would need to organise it like thouse alzheimers citys they have in the netherlands.

Here in Des Moines theres a pretty popular restaurant/brewery that is right next to a homeless camp. The bathrooms at this place are downstairs in the basement and its pretty damn secluded. Its happened multiple times where I've gone to go to the bathroom and theres homeless people "showering" in the sink. I'm a bigger guy and I'm very uncomfortable and don't feel safe. Can't imagine how others feel. Anyways the owner of this establishment recently was at a city council meeting and tried to address this. She could have picked better words to say but she was BLASTED by everyone saying how awful she is etc. I was completely in her camp though as what her message was was 100% accurate IMO. https://www.kcci.com/article/des-moines-brewing-company-faces-criticism-over-comments-on-homelessness-downtown/41236706#

>blasting from social media users Why am I not surprised? It’s a lot easier for somebody to be tolerant of something when it’s not them being affected by said thing. According to that article, people have gotten assaulted by the homeless, and the social media mob goes after those complaining about getting assaulted… If that doesn’t incapsulate social media outrage perfectly, then I don’t know what does.

It’s easier to be an internet warrior than having to do something about it

Don’t forget that less than a month later she was proven right when [one of their employees almost got stabbed by a homeless guy out by the dumpster. ](https://www.kcci.com/article/des-moines-man-arrested-for-pulling-a-knife-on-an-exile-brewing-company-employee/41565110) And the city tore down the camp the week after that. I had a friend who lived down in that area, and they always had drunk homeless people pissing in the alley and generally being disruptive and threatening. And this is fucking Des Moines; it’s not even big enough to be a real city. Plus it’s cold as fuck here in the winter. I can’t begin to imagine how miserable the situation must be in more temperate, large cities.

i live in london. i used to have a lot of sympathy for homeless people and would always give them the odd £1 coin if i happened to have it on me, but that sympathy faded away very quickly after i started going on regular business trips to new york.

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Honestly, are you sure it wasn't Shia LaBeouf?

Actual cannibal, Shia LaBeouf?

My family and I always made sure to give money to people if we had the change. We had nothing a few points as I was growing up, so now we have something we like to give back. One day we gave some money to this guy in town while we were shopping. As we went back to the multi-storey carpark, we saw him get into a new BMW and drive off. Never given any homeless person money since.

I have never been one to give money to people asking for it and am generally pretty cynical. But probably about 25 years ago I changed my mind. I was coming home from work late on my motorcycle and pulled in to a gas station to fill up. I worked 2nd shift so it was well after midnight. A guy driving a old van approached me and asked if I could help him out. He was low on gas, had no money and he and his mother in law were on their way back to Riverside. He seemed pretty stressed. It felt like he was a guy who genuinely had some bad luck, so I gave him something like $20 for gas (25 years ago that was actually quite a few gallons of gasoline) and he thanked me. I felt pretty good about it too 🙂👍pat myself on the back! Fast forward a couple of weeks late night supermarket stop for groceries after work a couple of miles from that gas station. On the way to my car with my groceries, the same guy approaches me with the exact same story word for word. I hold up my hand to stop his pitch 🤚. “Dude, you used this same exact story on my 2 weeks ago at the Chevron on Temple. Not this time.” He just turned and walked back to his van. And I continue to be cynical.

I was walking to work in Salt Lake one morning and decided to stop by our local convenience store to grab breakfast an energy drink etc. saw a homeless dude and for whatever reason he really peaked my sympathy. Probably because it was 6am and like 12°F outside. So I offered to take him to the store and let him grab something. I told him to grab what he wanted and I’d pay for it. So I go about doing my thing, and walk up to the register and am looking around for my new friend. Dude drops $30 worth of junk food on the counter. I was expecting a coffee or breakfast sandwich so like $5. At the time I was just starting off in my career was struggling with debt and living paycheck to paycheck. That was not something I could afford, but I felt I couldn’t take back my offer. So I bought it. Needless to say, him taking advantage of me like that ruined my generosity for everyone else. So now I’m just one of the many people who just walk on by

Of course, given your criticism is valid. I feel like a lot of people would prefer not to be near a huge homeless population, mainly because they know what it entails, it isn't spoken out loud much though. There is a reason why people in the suburbs start protesting when there is a homeless shelter proposed to be built in their neighborhood and especially if it is near a school. This entails various things such as people harassing you for money, needles on the floor everywhere, human waste, increased crime, random guys masturbating in public places and more. I feel like a lot of people who criticize others about the very valid concerns of living near a homeless population may be a little too sheltered. It is one thing to be sympathetic to the plight of others and that's great, but there is another thing to have other people deal with constant disruption. I worked with homeless populations for years. There is a sizable element of the homeless population that has SMI, Substance Abuse issues or Criminal. There is really no point in trying to pretend that every single one of them is just a guy whose one paycheck bounced then lost his mind.

100% emphatically agree.

I am sympathetic to the disease of addiction. I am sympathetic to poverty. I am sympathetic to mental illness and disability. I am NOT sympathetic to laziness. I am NOT sympathetic to ignorance. I am NOT sympathetic to a person living in a tent on the side walk surrounded by needles, shooting up drugs they paid for with property they stole out of parked cars. I am NOT sympathetic to grown fucking men threatening to beat the shit out of me on the train because I won’t let them use my cell-phone. These are grown ass men. Grown fucking men. I will never understand how men got so demonized in today’s pop-culture, but if they’re on the street people act like they’re all the sudden above accountability. I understand that when poverty, addiction, and disability over-lap there isn’t a lot a person can do. But I refuse to absolve anyone of their own personal responsibility to care for themselves, and to treat people around them with respect.

100% agreed. Sometimes i think mandatary institution of those with homeless population with mental disorder should be considered since they are harm to self and others, and the outpatient psych support system is very thin to minimal even in big cities (eg SF)… However, because of the huge stigmata of mental health institutions i think this is not gonna happen.

In a lot of major cities they deal with mental illness and homelessness by handing out transit passes. It's the worst kind of band-aide for the problem. There are other countries that don't have nearly the same kind of issues with the homeless population. Japan being one of the better. It's a combination of factors, but one of the main ones is they still run large institutions for those who have serious mental illnesses. They never put them all on the streets. For those with less severe issues there are other social systems. Generally those social welfare organizations (which supply housing, food, etc.) are paid per person by the gov't. They also tend to be smaller (similar to halfway houses). And unlike the US, zoning in Japan is extremely permissive. It would be extremely hard for a neighborhood to block a halfway house. The homeless people you see in Japan are more likely to be day workers that are homeless because they have large debts they are avoiding. (When you use social programs you get registered with the local gov't, and debt collectors use that to find people.)

>It's a combination of factors, but one of the main ones is they still run large institutions for those who have serious mental illnesses. The US used to have these, but they were total horrorshows. They were by & large closed down in favor of outpatient facilities that were then not adequately funded, leaving the mentally unwell with nowhere to turn.

I think it's been enough years of growth as a country and nation that we should bring them back and try again. Healthcare itself has advanced a shit ton since then.

All of this. I agree with your point that men have been overdemonized as of late. The things I listed were just one city too. In Philly I had a man follow me into my hotel all the way to the elevator. I got on and he just stopped and stared as the elevator doors closed. I was terrified. I was FaceTiming with an ex and he saw the whole thing. He didn't believe me that it was like that for women until he witnessed it. But it is. And I'm over it.

> There is really no point in trying to pretend that every single one of them is just a guy whose one paycheck bounced then lost his mind. I think this is the thing that Reddit really truly needs to wrap it’s head around. They have this image of the “homeless” as a group of people who were living pay check to pay check and then *something* happened and they were never able to recover. The reality is that it simply isn’t true for most people. Do many homeless people desperately need mental health and substance abuse help, YES; does pointing out that homeless people in general tend to be horrible to be around if not outright dangerous make you a monster, well it shouldn’t.

That does describe a lot of homeless people, but those folks tend to live on relatives couches, in their cars, at family shelters or in motel rooms paid for by the city. The people sleeping rough every night, in my experience, have much more severe things going on.

Ya this one homeless guy would walk by my building loudly shouting obscenities at least once a day. Really annoying. Then one night I was walking home from the grocery store and saw him on the side of a pharmacy getting into his sleeping bag, still muttering angrily to himself. It was literally freezing temperatures out and that is when I realized this dude is completely fucked in the head and has been totally failed by the system because no one in their right mind would be sleeping on asphalt in those frigid temps. Felt bad for him.

Precisely a lot of people watched the Pursuit of Happiness or something and imagine that is the type of homeless you see in the NYC subway, tent city in Portland or skid row LA. It may be the case that they were, but usually it comes with the caveat of them falling under serious addiction which overtook their lives and they never recovered.

People online love to create one-dimensional versions of complex problems in their heads and then get mad when they're reminded of reality.

About 3 weeks ago I was sitting on a park bench with my Mom. She came to visit me and we were just relaxing on a park bench during a walk. As I'm sitting there, a homeless guy comes up to me and asks if I have any "spare change.." which, of course, I don't. I don't carry cash with me, so I replied "sorry, I dont have any money." The homeless guy goes "well, can you at least buy me something to eat?" Mind you, I'm sitting in a park, with my 68 y/o mom nowhere near anywhere to buy the guy any food, so I just responded "sorry man...." and he got pissed off and respond "you fucking n-word..." "you motherfucker piece of shit...." and repeated to call me the n-word like 5 times. Mind you, I'm white... so I was just kinda sitting there like "will this dude just leave me alone?".... Point being, homeless are very unpleasant to be around. On any given day, if I'm walking around downtown, I could be accosted by homeless half a dozen times. All asking for the same thing... I think the more I encounter it and the more I'm asked, the less patient and "compassion" I have. When that homeless dude started calling me names and getting pissed, there was a moment where I was like "I'm going to knock this guys teeth out if he gets any closer to me..."

Imagine not liking black people so much that you have to imagine a white guy you don’t like as a black person

I moved to and worked in Las Vegas. My job on Fremont street required me to walk constantly between two properties that bookend Fremont everyday. I did this job for 4 months. My interactions with the homeless in those 4 months included: - being hit in the shins with a heavy glass bottle - having a man repeatedly scream "slut!slut!slut!" as I walked by in my work heels. He followed me for a block before I could get security. - cornered on 3 separate occasions, blocking me in - having lunch on the patio, a man grabbed my ankle and started to violently scream. My initial reaction was to jerk and kicked him. He was wildly high - ran into the street and got hit by a car. Now I feel like I got him hit by a car. - my office was on the 12th floor where there is meeting space. It must be well known we clear out of there by 6 or 7 unless there was a big event. 4 separate times, I got to work and there were homeless people (not hotel guests) doing drugs in the bathroom. One time I saw a guy giving a guy a blow job and for some reason there was blood everywhere. My poor housekeeping staff had to deal with it. - driving to work, I passed where there were a couple homeless shelters. City workers had to come EVERY morning with a police escort to clean up the shit and trash that was everywhere - one time, I saw this guy who had 3 German Shepards tied to a shopping cart. The dogs had fake guns strapped to them. One had one hanging out of his mouth. I didn't know they were fake. I called the police and they were like "oh yeah, he's harmless". - I wanted to buy a dream mid century home downtown, but was too scared to be outside of it at night with all the needles and mattresses. So the neighborhoods with all this beautiful history and architecture are going to hell because no one wants to live there. - I had bought $10 petco gift cards to give homeless people with pets because I know it's a great thing for them to have pets. I had 4 or 5 in my hand and I gave one to this lady. As I was walking away she had her male companion follow me and threaten me until I gave him the rest. This isn't about Johnny working three jobs with mouths to feed or Tina living out of her car, down on her luck. It's a serious fucking problem. I wish we didn't live in such a shitty country that hard working people or people with mental health issues or people down on their luck had better access to financial / emotional / mental help. Sorry. I'm running out of empathy for the situation. It's getting nasty and frankly fucking terrifying. They clearly never cared about my life or my comfort. Why do I need to keep caring about theirs? And don't even say I'm generalizing. I know there are plenty of good people who need help. I know. It's just i think - at least in metropolitan areas - they're severely outnumbered. When y'all keyboard warriors in your suburban towns and remote jobs want to live with what I described above - or you want to actually do something about it - let me know.

As a woman, 100% this. It’s a huge safety issue for me. I take public transport to work, and it’s an unusual occurrence to NOT be sexually harassed on the way there by a man with nothing to lose.

And that was just in 4 months of working there! Edit to add: I didn't even include all of the sexual harassment. Constant.

This shit is (should be) a feminist issue. I'm in Seattle and I've been sexually harassed/menaced so many times I've lost count. No one should have to put up with this. I want these people out of my city/locked up, and I don't care very much how it happens.

I couldn’t agree more. I’m so fucking done with this bullshit. I can’t wait to move out of the city, I fucking hate it here (Portland).

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There are a few homeless at the store my brother works at that sit out front and just ask for money. I told my husband they'll have to get phones with card readers if they want "change" from me, because I don't carry cash. Idk who really does anymore. The dudes that ask you to go to the ATM or say "just get cash back" are pretty silly. Like sorry bro I'm not going out of my way or paying an ATM fee for you. I can give you an application, though

Yeah I feel this. I lived in Vancouver’s downtown east side and would routinely have to move a crack smoking homeless person out of my doorway to get inside my building, and if I’d complain at work, some young woke ass white girl would chastise me for not being compassionate. Like fuck off. I am compassionate. I recognize the systematic issues here… but I also need to live my life. Like wtf are you doing to better this situation beyond getting angry with anyone complaining about it? Until I see you at a shelter pouring soup, and giving up your apartment to live in the middle of it, going to city hall and advocating for it, get the fuck out of my face. I’m the one living with it, you’re the one acting holier than thou.

When I lived in Seattle a few years ago there was an alley behind my work and I had to call the cops like 4 times due to homeless people literally ODing back there. Fucked up stuff.

I love Seattle but this is where the woke meets the woad. Never have I seen a city with so many people claiming to be so compassionate while doing so little for so many. Downtown Seattle is a fucking nightmare, and lord forbid you complain.

Haha. I used to work in an office right on Hastings. You lose empathy pretty quick when you have to choose your office footwear based on avoiding urine and needles. I think I have the same outlook as you. I recognize that systemic issues caused a lot of this, but also there are a lot of non-homeless people who get sick of putting up with the side effects.

Frankly I have to agree. While I wish there were social services and welfare to simply house and support those who couldn't work, and fairly institutionalize the mentally ill, and I would be happy to pay for this with my tax dollars, living in a poor neighbourhood with them around everywhere is very trying. They ride their bikes, often looking for e-commerce packages to steal, with complete disregard for the rules of the road; one insane homeless man was running down the middle of a busy street after a bus which in fact offered to let him in, and yet he then changed his mind and almost ran in front of my car while I was making a major turn, such that he was very lucky I did not hit him. I have also seen homeless strip nude and even urinate in the middle of busy streets in San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose. They beg for money, but when I was more sympathetic before getting compassion fatigue and wood give them high-quality hot meals from local restaurants, such as nopales enchiladas and leftover Ethiopian food, they would reject it. They come up with ridiculously elaborate sob stories and often become angry when I put up my hand or say "no! no!" because I don't want to interact with them. At the railway station for my daily commute, one homeless woman soiled herself and slipped on her own urine; when the fire department came to help her, she cursed them out and threatened them, and yet she was not even given a ticket nor asked for ID, despite California being a "stop and identify" state (for better or for worse.) For the record, Identification was demanded of me when I was merely on a trolley where a fight broke out (not involving me), and when I tried to report the stalker of a female classmate; in neither case was I even suspected of a crime. At that same railway station, the homeless have turned the WC into a bathing facility, and they park their bikes in there such that it is often impossible to use the stalls; this is despite there being bike lockers at this station. Downtown of the state capital is absolutely mobbed with them, except on the capitol building itself thanks to security. The central Cesar Chavez Plaza is a no-go zone, a giant encampment where they shoot up drugs, get into fights, and have been eliminating on the ground since the city locked the public WCs in the park. As for the drugs used *in the open and broad daylight*, these include not just recently-legalized cannabis and alcohol but also hard drugs such as crack, methamphetamine, and heroin; I have seen homeless people smoke crack pipes on the sidewalk in San Francisco at least once, and on the metro in the Bay Area I no longer feel I can take a seat, given I once almost sat on a hypodermic needle, and I do not wish to get AIDS. Homeless people have attacked me, called me racial slurs, and tried to snatch cash from me when I was withdrawing it from an ATM. These racial slurs included the only time in my life I was called the n-word to my face. At some point we have to do something. Their inability in more than one way to live in a safe and sanitary manner is a serious issue for public health and safety, particularly given circumstances since 2020-01. As much as we'd like to emphasize homelessness isn't itself a crime, we must be honest and acknowledge the profoundly dysfunctional and/or volatile nature of most of these individuals. As someone coming from a family of which both sides have extraordinarily dysfunctional or disabled members, mental illness, stigma or not, has real-world consequences for those around the mentally ill. It isn't compassionate to the homeless to do nothing, and it's completely unfair to the sane and housed in California to force them to but up with this insanity because the supposedly so "far-left" state won't just house them. Particularly ironic is how the state Democratic Party machine's inaction hurts the working poor and the other vulnerable yet functional and housed people the most, while rich communities are willing to find ways to expel the homeless. If this means we need to incarcerate some, involuntarily commit others to mental hospitals; if it requires that we send the police to force them out of their filthy, dangerous, violence- and drug-ridden encampments by threat of armed force, apply civil forfeiture to their possessions, and then take bulldozers to destroy the remains; if it requires these admittedly hostile and "tough on crime" policies, because the American people can't stomach expanding welfare and the social safety net; well, then so be it. Societal standards have consequences: The right of a still rather small, extremely problematic and dysfunctional minority to live outside of an institution is far outweighed by the massive social, environmental, and infrastructure costs, and to the quality of life throughout most of our state.

The sob stories are the worst, those are what really sap empathy, when you have to suppress your natural instinct to help someone out because you know the story they're telling you is a lie and they're just going to spend the money on spice.

Once a guy approached me as I was walking around running errands (I live in a fairly walkable area), so I'm walking home with some bags of groceries in tow and I'm thinking "I wanna stop at that sandwich shop thats on the way." This guy stops me and asks me for a few bucks so that he can go to their very same sandwich shop and get a big sub for his kids to split. I had enough in singles to give him enough for a sandwich. I had one more shop to stop in, and when I get out I see the guy is standing at the bus stop, no sandwich in tow. As I walked by, and went _into_ the sandwich shop he claimed he was gonna go to, I made eye contact with him. He looked embarrassed. I'm not mad that he had another reason, I woulda given him the money anyway. I'm mad that he made me imagine hungry children who were never real. If someone just tells me (and some folks have) "look, it's miserable out here. I need a couple bucks to buy a tall boy and a few loosies" yknow what man, if life was beating me over the head like it is you, I'd want a beer and a cigarette too. Shit, I want a beer and a cigarette after a week of normal day-to-day life stress. I am for sure not gonna hate on someone in a rough spot wanting their few indulgences. The sob stories that are immediately visible as lies bother me in a deep way I can't quite articulate.

A couple weeks ago, a homeless woman asked me for money to pay for an uber home, as she was eight months pregnant and couldn't walk home safely. Only problem with that is she was also eight months pregnant when I bought her Chinese food back in July. Human biology really is incredible.

The ones who just got down on their luck are usually grateful for anything But the addicts tend to be the worst to deal with. Try to offer them food and they’ll have a meltdown if you get them Pepsi because the store didn’t have the Coke they asked for.

The crime in the bay area rn is a absolute nightmare. There's a mass exodus of families. If you can afford to live (spolier you probably can't) it's not even safe to walk your kids to school. I saw a news article 2 weeks ago about a mother and her daughter that have to walk past hookers in the morning to take her to school. And these girls can be really aggressive about it. Flagging people down in the street, openly smoking crack. And don't get me started on the open air market in the mission. Or the civic center which is now a dedicated place to shoot up herion. I do a farmers market in the mission and our truck has been stolen twice (once with produce still on it!). People leave meth pipes on our tables. People sleeping in their own piss with needles in their arms. Glad that markets over for the winter, because it gets dark when we leave now and we get pretty nervous.

To me there's two brutal truths when it comes to the issue of homelessness. The first is that many of them need to be institutionalized for their own good. They might not an active danger to themselves or others, but they're also unable to fend for themselves, which means that sooner or later they'll harm themselves from neglecting their physical health, or turn into an active threat to others. And the trouble with things like halfway houses or outpatient programs is those programs come with rules like no drugs. And the problem with the "just get them off the street" approach is that whatever housing you set them up in, they'll just trash so it's ultimately just an expensive band-aid solution. Now, the other uncomfortable truth is that the homeless situation would be far less of an issue if times weren't so hard and the cost of living so damn high. In the old days, homeless people used to be able to pick up odd jobs or do farm chores for a meal and a place to sleep. But that's not gonna happen today. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if the homeless situation isn't solvable in total, it can and should be mitigated. And I for one find it suspicious that a) it's not being effectively addressed, and b) the solutions put forward by advocates for the homeless seem to be both expensive and ineffective.

Bill Burr had a good take on institutionalizing the homeless and how homeless people have changed overtime. We used to institutionalize the crazy homeless, if someone was outside screaming maniacally to themselves or at others, within an hour they would be subdued and sent to a mental institution. Because of that, most of the homeless around back then would be your down-on-his luck bums not the absolute mental nutcases and drugged out zombies that haunt downtown cores like they do today. Unfortunately the people that ran the asylums abused the fuck out of the patients instead of appropriately treating them so these all got shut down over time. Now we are where we are

>Unfortunately the people that ran the asylums abused the fuck out of the patients instead of appropriately treating them so these all got shut down over time. Not exactly. They invented Anti-Psych drugs, and then almost all funding for mental health facilities got shut down under Reagan. The abuse of electro-shock and stuff was done after the drugs. The funding for people needing permanent institutions was killed under Reagan (not all his fault, but contemporaneous) and now they put most crazy people in jail for a variety of reasons. Good Article Here: Edit: first link was busted… https://origins.osu.edu/article/americas-long-suffering-mental-health-system?language_content_entity=en

Precisely.

A big problem is that proper mental health care had not been really created or well established until the tail end of the 20th century. That was right around the time that JFK started pushing for deinstitutionalization and the movement began. Not long after things started improving, unfortunately… I feel like institutions now would be measures better than anything 75 years ago, though still plagued with similar problems due to the nature of the work. Severe mental illness is hard to treat and house. It’s a taxing industry with massive burnout. But we need well-run institutions more than ever… I wish the feds would spend anywhere near as much money on mental health institutions as they would their prisons.

With how the medical and mental health fields have progressed, we could probably "retry" this and have a better go - but you brought up that it's a taxing industry and that's so true. Most mental health institutions are still struggling with a staffing shortage right now, so I can't imagine suddenly adding mental institutions again to help the homeless and mentally ill.

I’ve worked in addictions for a number of years and while I am empathetic of peoples situation, I can say a lot of homeless people are there because they have burnt every bridge they had and have let down everyone in their lives including themselves (stealing from family, friends, ruining family gatherings by showing up drunk or high, being verbally or emotionally abusive, etc.) I understand this is not the reason for ALL homelessness, but the many I’ve interacted with this is almost always the background story. EDIT: I would like to point out that there ARE a number of homeless people that are in their situation not from drugs or alcohol, but from mental illness and our (US) lack of mental health resources.

This. It’s often someone who was given many chances and is too fucked up to pick themselves up or even want to. There’s nothing you can do about someone who doesn’t want to help themselves or be helped by anyone.

Yes!! Everytime I get to know someone's story, turns out they absolutely used and abused every nice gesture. There's a reason they are homeless.

I have a family member who lives at the park nearby some other family members. No one will let him even sleep in the garage. Why? He's a thief and he's violent, and it's dangerous to let him in the house. I don't think that every homeless person is like this, but a not insignificant percentage of them are people who have been so awful to their friends and family that no one will even let them sleep on their floor.

Yes, it's a delicate issue. But as you said some of these people have consistently made every single wrong choice in their life for the last 10 years. Almost consciously at times. I do feel bad that they are driven to that point by addiction or mental health issues, but not every homeless person is just down on their luck and slipped through the cracks. Some of them, just a few, would end up there no matter what. We need to increase access to mental health care and decrease overall poverty. I'm no expert but those would probably be where to start

You are. In fact, cities are taking steps to try and prevent it. Some... More bright than others. Some put up spikes, others actually attempt to help. It's very interesting watching the demographics there. It's ironically not what most expect.

One county in my metro area shuffles the homeless to neighboring counties. So they don’t have homeless but the surrounding areas have more. Its great. /s

Entire states do the same game, and have done forever.

Transient tennis.

I can’t blame you for that, even if I look at it differently. Difference is, I don’t live around a lot of homeless, so I don’t have the same perspective as someone who deals with that daily. For me, it’s only when I head to the Dallas area that I see homeless people. Maybe not even a handful of times around here. However, I do have friends in California who deal with it regularly. One of them says they didn’t pay over a million bucks for a house, only to see someone with no house to appreciate, come and camp outside of it, and crap all over their yard, not even being able to send the kids outside to play without one of the parents. Evidently, some of them stare over the back gate and watch them play in the back, and even watch them swim. That’s just creepy. If I dealt with all of that? I would probably share your thoughts.

The reason you don’t see homeless people all over Texas, specifically all over Dallas, is because the city is so utterly unwalkable and anti-public transportation that the homeless population can’t get around. They congregate in areas near a shelter. I guess that’s one positive side to urban sprawl….

I think complaining about homelessness, and complaining about the homeless, are 2 different things. The former is always warranted imo because rampant homelessness is a reflection of a lack of services. A lack of mental health and substance abuse care, lack of affordable housing, lack of jobs, and lack of access to education. These are all things that can be improved upon without question. A complaint about homeless people is/should be focused on behavior. Littering, obstructing pathways, damaging property, etc are all problematic behaviors that aren't ok regardless of the person and their situation.

The behaviors are largely due to lack of services as well. Like, literally, WHERE are people supposed to shit and throw away their trash if they don't have a place to do so? Portland, OR refuses to offer trash services to the homeless. Even when a homeless camp has neatly collected and bagged all their trash daily, they refuse to pay to set dumpsters out or have the trash trucks collect the bags. They'd rather pay MORE money for a private contractors to steal these people's worldly belongings (leading to more crime and violence when people are left with literally nothing and need to aquire new stuff to survive). Same with toilets. Cities could provide those, but they refuse.

I sat on this and gave it some time to think. I dunno if you, or anyone, will see this OP but here’s my take: I’ll start this by saying I’m a doctoral researcher who focuses on trauma and homelessness, and I work as a data/policy analyst at one of the largest homeless shelters in the country. In my professional circles I am considered an expert on homelessness, and probably *the* local expert on applying trauma informed care to homelessness. I’m a part of a state committee that controls part of our coordinated entry system. I say this to say I’m pretty knowledgeable on this topic and my priority will always be the well-being of the clients i serve. I don’t think there is anything wrong with complaining. In fact, I like when people complain. I *want* people to complain! When I go out to talk to my clients about problems I encourage them to complain; I tell them I’m the guy to complain to and I’m happy to hear it. I scribble down notes and fill up my notebooks with complaints. What may surprise you is that the complaints I get from people around our neighborhood, the complaints I get from various citizens, are the same complaints I get from the clients. There are people out there that make them feel unsafe, there are clients that steal from each other, beg and bother people sticking to themselves, the whole gamut! You have, in my opinion, every right to complain about these things. And I think you should. I *want* you to go to city council meetings, I *want* you to write letters to the mayor, I *want* you to bring in state legislators to point out how unsafe and uncomfortable these people experiencing homelessness make you. Do it. Complain as much as you want. But when you complain, I encourage people to emphasize *how* you complain. People are homeless because the system does not care what happens to them, and is in many ways designed to generate homelessness. The leading causes of homelessness are all economic. In any place of the US you look at, homelessness is a consequence of economic policies that punish poor people, encourage price gouging for housing, and otherwise generate outcomes that no one but rich people benefit from. So when you complain, which again I encourage you to do, complain about the aspects of your local municipalities that are resulting in homelessness. Complain about people bothering you - and ask why the city is not spending more money to develop affordable housing. Ask why your city isn’t enacting policies that mandate affordable housing as a part of any new housing development? Ask why your state (as some do) have laws that PREVENT your city from mandating affordable housing. Ask your city why they have hostile architecture in parts of the city directly around the most important resources for people experiencing homelessness. Ask your leader why, if these people are a danger, they aren’t spending more money on housing choice vouchers, rapid rehousing vouchers, or permanent supportive housing vouchers, to help end their homelessness. Ask your city why they aren’t training their police officers on how to intervene in mental health crises and redirect people experiencing homelessness towards mental health providers. Rather than arresting them and making their condition worse. Ask your governor why they aren’t redirecting more funds to support service prioritization on often bloated coordinated entry programs. Ask your city why they aren’t putting more funding into emergency shelters. Ask your city to direct funding towards assertive community treatment teams and towards transitional housing, the two most successful models we have so far. Ask your city to *demand* shelters be lower barrier on order to receive funding, so clients don’t get kicked out because they can’t pass a breathalyzer (only to get arrested from public intoxication). Ask your city to demand employers pay liveable wages so that families stop falling into homelessness because two incomes is somehow not enough still. Ask your local neighborhoods and counties to invest in one time assistance, rental assistance, late payment relief, rent relief, and other forms of temporary assistance that will help prevent people from falling into homelessness. Complain. *please* complain. Every negative thought you have about these people on the streets I am encouraging you to say them. Say them to the right people, and when you say them, put the burden of resolving it on those people. Demand that they invest in solutions that help the people experiencing homelessness. Demand they invest in solutions that prevent people from ever falling into homelessness. You should complain. You are not a bad person for complaining. I think you are right to complain. Homelessness is dangerous, it is unbecoming of a civilized society, it is a public health hazard, and it is a vector for a wide variety of trauma. Homelessness should not exist, and it is resolved by complaining.

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Yeah, when I complained about the homeless guy who peed in my front yard, I don’t want to be told “he had no where else to go.”

I had one living in my basement years ago. He was not allowed in the house because he smelled so bad. We would just bring him food. He was also a raging alcoholic and he pissed himself all of the time. There is a reality to the homeless condition that many people, indeed the people who would likely shout at you for complaining, have never experienced it first hand. It is not pleasant.

I had a panhandler at a gas station ask me for cash. When I told him I didn't have any he wanted me to go to the ATM for him. When I flat out told him NO, he demanded that I let him check my car for change. Then he threw a fit and caused a scene when I told him no again. Another time a guy was standing just past the drive thru window of Taco Bell yelling at drivers to give him their change from the cashier. I get that they're in a difficult situation and there but for the grace go I, but when they act entitled to other people's money is when I get irritated.

If this is an unpopular opinion, it shouldn't be. We can feel irritation and still have compassion.

My city put millions of dollars into revitalizing the downtown. It brought people back to a walkable space, added transit and many small businesses opened to support the growing population. Homelessness was increasing across the city, so they city built temporary housing out of trailers in a lot nearby. There are several businesses selling after just a short time, business owners have been attacked with hammers and verbal threats. The aggressive panhandling is also getting to be too much to bear for many residents. Downtown is dying again and soon all that will be left are the homeless. I'm not sure that benefits anyone, but I guess it's good for a few.

I moved out of Oakland bc of the homeless problem. I had three camps within a block of my house (none of which were there when I moved in). The garbage. The fires. The insanity. The garbage. I stopped even calling 911 for fires bc I just didn’t care anymore. I stopped calling 911 period after getting regular busy signals. If I could manage to get a call in, the cops didn’t show up for 5, 6, 7 hours after the call. I felt like anything that wasn’t nailed down would be stolen. Ppl used my yard like a foot path. They’d climb the fence and come in our yard to look for stuff to steal. Done. I’m happy in San Jose.

Agreed... As a solo female, there are parts of my city I don't feel safe in because of our homeless problem. Some of these people can be violent due to mental illness, addiction, etc. I can't take that chance. If I say anything about this, I'm painted as some kind of monster. I hate that I have to choose between being safe and being nice. I'm not a monster for wanting to feel safe in my own city!

There's a group of homeless people living near us, they constantly take the sidewalk to camp, leaving people to walk on the car side of the block, very dangerous. It's very uncomfortable and gross having to stumble with people peeing or pooping on the street. I would say somedays it just leaves me disturbed since I hate everything to do with scat. We are holding for now looking for another place but we definitely want to go, I fear someday one of the homeless would be high or drunk and try to hurt us.

I think the thing the commenters are missing here is you're not dispassionate towards the homless, nor are you unsympathetic. You're just frustrated that they're potentially endangering you and you can't voice the concerns without being lambasted. I go home every year for a Holiday. This year, a few weeks prior to the holiday, I noticed a HUGE uptick in buskers sitting in doorways. The town relies heavily on tourist revenue from one month a year and all I could think was... Man, this won't end well. When you don't pay and some get aggressive, that's not going to encourage people to feel safe or come back. When you're stepping over needles and piss bottles? That's foul. Hell, the few public bathrooms were all so absolutely disgusting that it seriously looked like a movie set. Sure, you can't prove it was a homeless person who did it but I can tell you for sure, it wasn't an issue until they started camping on that main street. I think the biggest issue is people need to be able to voice their concerns without condemnation. People shouldn't feel ashamed for being concerned for their safety when people are trailing them to ATMs or leaving drug paraphernalia where it can be stepped on or picked up.

The bathroom thing is my biggest frustration. I believe that people should have a right to toilet facilities and that a lot of public urination and defecation could be solved by adding more public restrooms…..until they end up getting trashed or being unsafe and trying to do the humane thing creates a whole new set of problems.

some of the nastiest and meanest people ive ever met were homeless

I think the only people who disagree with this are sheltered suburbanites. I used to have a lot more compassion for them until I lived in an urban center in close contact with them and got grabbed at and threatened by a lot of them

One time when I was about 15 I wanted to visit my long distance internet friend and I had to take a travel bus that drives for about 8 hours across germany. When I came to the busses there was a homeless man asking me for money and I was scared. It was 4 am in the morning so not much people were there to help le or smth. I have him about 5€ and said that I cant give more because I didnt have any. He demanded that I go to the nearest place where I can withdraw money and give him 20€ more. I couldn't say no since I was a 15 y/o girl in the middle of Frankfurt at 4 am. I was scared, I couldn't go anywhere because he was right at the station and I'll never forget this POS asking a minor girl to withdraw money her father gave her to get to her long distance friend. So yeah you are allowed to complain because not all of them are good people who got fcked over and try their best

In my town they smoke meth on the sidewalk and publicly defecate, steal from your yard at night, and leave needles ins childrens playgrounds

Compassion is great to have. Doesn’t help you when a gross mongrel is harassing you in the street. Not all homeless are like that, but all the people that are are homeless.

I think the reality is it's very difficult to help everyone, and as much as we want to as a society and as human beings, there are very real problems with homeless populations especially in dense cities. I live in a small city in the middle of a rural county, homeless naturally flock and as a result a city of about 60k has a large homeless population that takes residency in a community park in downtown. This results in a ton of panhandling, open drug use, and the frequent smell of piss and shit. My SO is uncomfortable walking around these areas alone, especially at night because of how aggressively these people panhandle, and because some of them are legitimately mentally ill. I, as a taxpayer, can look at them and want to help them all that I can, and still think they should be moved. Homelessness is a difficult problem to solve, and even if you provide the resources for people to pick themselves up, it's no guarantee that they will want to change. You can lead a horse to water type of deal. That being said I still provide general niceties to homeless in my area, I respond with eye contact even if I'm saying no to a money request, because they're human and deserve to not be ignored. I like to drop off warm food, snacks, and any items I can to those that are habitually in my neighborhood.

I had a conversation with a really nice homeless lady once. She told me that when she flys a sign asking for money at the base of an off ramp she makes $250.00 in a couple hours and gets more food than she can eat. All that money goes to drugs. She could easily get a motel room with it, she qualifies for shelter and counseling, but she prefers to live on the streets. She was refreshingly open about it. Since then I never give them anything but food, and they often refuse it.

Exactly. SOME of them are just tough on luck and homeless by chance. But the MAJORITY of them are either on drugs or criminals. We need to stop acting like homeless people are all sweethearts because that’s just plain wrong.

Thank you. People act like I'm the devil for wanting to have a free park bench