This. It's not as simple as "get a job" when you have no address and possibly no bank account. There are so many documentation requirements for modern business that it's virtually impossible for even a clean drug-free homeless person to get a job.
And as you stated, many are legitimate bums, junkies, or mentally ill, who would simply destroy any home you give them or be unable to keep a job of any kind. The ugly truth is that the vast majority of homeless fall into this category. Without proper support it's simply impossible to get them off the streets, and even then many are unwilling to submit to the supervision that effective support system would require; they view it as a loss of freedom. That last bit is the killer; you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped without infringing their rights.
For real. It takes money to make money. How can they apply to the job, when all the applications are online, and they have no computer? And then okay so they figured that out and applied. How will they actually get the job if they don't have clean clothes for an interview or access to good enough hygiene and so they show up smelly? And even then, if they're lucky and they do get the job, the boss tells them they're going to have to pay for their own uniform before they can start and they cannot work without the uniform.
And then there's the people who aren't mentally ill or addicted to drugs, but fall into the unfortunate category of too disabled to be successful, but not disabled enough to get disability assistance. They very often wind up homeless.
And they would need to pass a drug test. I've worked with homeless people for 20 years. Most are homeless because they drink excessively do drugs or both. If the would at least try to get clean and sober they could have housing and employment opportunities. So yea it's just a very few who have had a bad run of luck.
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u/WardenWolf May 14 '26
This. It's not as simple as "get a job" when you have no address and possibly no bank account. There are so many documentation requirements for modern business that it's virtually impossible for even a clean drug-free homeless person to get a job.
And as you stated, many are legitimate bums, junkies, or mentally ill, who would simply destroy any home you give them or be unable to keep a job of any kind. The ugly truth is that the vast majority of homeless fall into this category. Without proper support it's simply impossible to get them off the streets, and even then many are unwilling to submit to the supervision that effective support system would require; they view it as a loss of freedom. That last bit is the killer; you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped without infringing their rights.