I think most people are only a few steps, at most, away from being homeless. Homeless isn't about a lack of jobs, or a lack of skills, or discrimination, or any of the other dozens of reasons people like to toss out there. Homeless is about a lack of will.... to live. It starts at the moment when, for whatever reason, people choose to stop participating in life as we know it. It may be a divorce, an addiction, a war, a loss of a loved one or any combination of possible things. At some point, people just say they are done with this world and being a part of it. They stop going to, or looking for work, stop paying their rent or mortgage, etc.., until they are on the streets and truth be told, they don't want to get off the streets... or rather... don't care whether they do, or don't. Life as we all know it is gone for them, they live moment to moment with no thought towards the future.

So my feelings on helping them are mixed. I'd be much more likely to offer $100 and a home cooked meal to a homeless person for 5 hours of labor at my home, than I would be to drop $20 in a hat. I'll help anyone who's wanting to make their way back up, but if someone has no desire to be helped, you're just throwing money into a chasm. All that said, I might still buy a pint of whiskey for a drunk with a creative enough sign, LOL