Homeless people

it was towards the begger hun. i really couldnt do that if i was her. thats jus mean

You do not know where the money is going obviously! The majority goes to pay the advertising costs, the day to day expenses, salaries and wages of people working in those charities! Usually only about 10% reaches the needy!

Lol, has anyone seem the homeless episode of South Park?

When I worked at the donut shop a homeless man would come in and beg for donuts. I took pity on him, paid a week's rent (which was a weeks pay) and gave the dude a copy of the town paper and two free classiified ads. The place to which I gave the week's rent was located across from an industrial parkway, walking distance to about 100 factories. I also gave hiim around $30 for food. I came back at the end of the week to check on him, he applied for NOTHING! He wanted an additional $1,000 to "invest". When I told him I wasn't gonna give him a month's salary (this was in '89) he asked if I had any friends who could give him the money

When i used to go out drinking etc, i used to always give them money and food. I gave a family of irish tramps ?40 once. I was very out of it though.

Thanks. I wasn't taking it to heart anyway, so don't worry. Yes, it was a very selfish and dishonest thing for her to do.

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I have a really difficult time saying no to people on the streets. I realize some are just looking to get money out of me but others genuinely need it, and I myself have no idea what circumstances put that individual person there or to what extent they've been trying to change. Some may say "they're only going to use it for drugs" but how do I know that? And why should I have control over what someone else decides to do with it? If I were homeless and sleeping out in the cold every night maybe I'd need a drink every once in a while

I guess I'd rather take that chance to help someone get something to eat for one night than say no to someone who might actually need it.

I realize the pros and cons to it, but I feel like a terrible person just walking past ignoring them. If I don't have any cash on me I'll at least say hello or wish them a good night or something.

Oh and yeah I usually make a donation to charities and donate clothes and stuff, too.

I frequently buy food for homeless people (or people begging on the street) but I draw the line at giving money

Well as a former homeless person, and recovering alcoholic, I can tell you that nothing that you can do will make the homeless want to change their lives. The desire for change has to come from within. They have to want it more than anything else. If they are at that point, then your help is a great thing, but more satisfaction is derived from doing it on their own.

I've worked at Food Banks and Soup Kitchens and would have to say that some of them have learned to love the way they live. No rent, no home, no bills etc... But I'm talking about the single ones. And they don't ask for money. After being poor for a length of time becomes a way of life and some are very content without the extras and do others no harm. What's a loaf of bread, some tins of soup once a week in the scheme of things?

Now! There are those that have families and are living in la-la land as they will NOT accept any job that pays less than $20.00 an hour and that's just a way of saying I don't want to work.

The poor are very in-depth as to the reason they are poor and what they want out of life and many are poor for very diverse reasons. That's why you can't lump them all together in one class and say all poor people are as such and so on. There's a very individual story behind each and every one of them with reasons of their own.

I no longer give money because they can get very aggressive but do so in other ways to organizations I have worked for or have made sure the monies are going to the poor and not the establishment for their own uses.

There will always be poor people and my motto is "Be careful what you say about anyone lest it comes to you and you end up eating the very words and becoming the very thing or person you have looked at with disdain". Sometimes their shoes become yours in a blink of an eye and how would you like to be treated in their shoes?

Agree! And some don't have the self-esteem any more to want to even try. They have been kicked so many times that they've chosen to stay down.

My ex prefers to be homeless & ask for money. He's happy living in the woods & sometimes renting motel rooms. He has alcohol & drug problems that he doesn't want to give up. He could live with relatives or friends, but he doesn't want to get along with them. He wants to be king of his world, even if it's only a tent in the woods.

When I worked at Domino's, there was a homeless man that came in about twice a week. He never asked for money or talked about drugs or alchohol. He said he became homeless because of a horrific family accident and lost them and everything else, and he never bounced back. He never got into complete detail, and I thought it rude to ask. But he smelled bad and looked very dirty, but he wasn't stupid or crazy, just sad and very emotional. I always gave him a pizza and breadsticks and soda. He was the nicest man. I kind of miss working there just because of him.

I sometimes give money to the homeless. But that is rare as I believe they should too work for their money...everyone is cabable of a job...perhaps employers have to be more open about hiring them though.

Anyways it is not a strange occurance for me or my family (we have been doing this for as long as I can remember) to be driving down the street, it is -40 out and there is some person walking down the street without a jacket on. I have given many of these people the "jacket off of my back" seriously. My family goes through more winter/fall jackets than anyone I know.

We will even do that with food, go to the local McD's or Burger King or grocery store and hand out bags of food to random people.

I would like to point out we don't know if these people are homeless or not, we don't go to the "hood" to find these people, it is completely random and can happen at anytime we see someone walking down the street.

we also Donate clothes etc to shelters rather than Salvation Army or Thrift store as these people probably cannot afford to buy clothing from Thrift stores or the Salvation Army.

The reason we don't preach to these people about getting jobs and what not is because of society's views on them. Not giving them a chance because they are drunks, druggies, or will steal from them. Shame.

We sure need to change.

You could almost (with a little thought) realise the similarities with homeless people to 'homed' people.

People seem to categorize 'homeless' people in the same way that they categorize 'drugs' [being, all the same].

The reality is some choose to live this life. Some don't. Some homed people choose not to better their lives when the opportunity is there if they want to take it. And some homeless people want this opportunity, but have no choice. They can't claim or get a job without an address, and can't get an address without a job. These are perhaps the most needy (when mental health is taken out of the equation), but some people will judge them all the same.

The people that want and attempt to get out of homelessness, but can't, I feel for. But it's sometimes hard to distinguish them if they aren't given or offered a choice, and they are simply judged on how bad they smell.

It's a personal choice who to help. Without any background knowledge of a person, you take them as you see them.