An act of radical compassion.

23rvby.jpg (click to show)

Have you ever done outreach to the homeless?
Do you know anything about addiction?
Would you open up your home to a homeless person or spend your money to help a homeless person get off the street and into a recovery program so they would not "have to drink alcohol or do drugs" to "numb pain of existence"?

Suggesting that someone gives money to a homeless person to spend it on alcohol is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

I am part of a ministry that does outreach to the homeless in our city every Saturday morning with the goal of helping those who want to, to get off the street and into a recovery program that will help them recover from drug/alcohol addiction and/or "chronic homelessness."

When one of these homeless people wants help to get a better life we tell them right then and there, "Get in the truck," and that night they will come to our team leader's personal home, have clean clothes, food, a warm bed to sleep in, and more love than they have felt in a long time. They will have 21 days to go through a list of recovery programs to call and find the one that is right for them. Our ministry will pay to get them anywhere in the country to the program they want to go to and pay any sponsorship or enrollment fees.

Since May 2019 we have helped approximately 50 people get off the streets and a little over half of them have gone into recovery. After talking to hundreds of homeless and "street people" we have found that the majority of them do not want help to have a better life, many are not "down on their luck and just need a hand-up," and many of them prefer living on the streets where they have no responsibilities other than hustling to get money for basic survival and alcohol/drugs.

You should really re-evaluate your mindset that tells you it is a good thing to give people what they need to continue to live in squalor instead of helping them to do better for themselves and our society.

http://traintrestleministry.com/

I have volunteered in food pantries and otherwise give money to charity.

I don’t pretend that giving spare change to someone on the street is a be-all end all solution. But as antithesis pointed out below, alcohol and cigarettes are not as bad as we should assume. Non-homeless people turn to these things for comfort, too.

Bottom-line, we don’t know their life situations and whether they’re going to make a turn-around or not. The point of my meme is unconditional compassion.

I’m glad my meme inspired you to share your thoughts and experiences.

there is a rise in:homelessness,opiate addiction,suicide,gambling

because if we ever did that as a society,then we would be forced to accept some responsibility for our failures.
let's just blame the victim.
it is an easier narrative to digest.

but props for working with the homeless mate.
very,VERY cool of you.

interesting nugget that isn't well known.
check out how salt lake city chose to deal with it's homeless problem.
the solution was pretty obvious when you gave it some thought.
*hint* it is in the name.

The survival techniques of the homeless are greatly misunderstood. Alcohol is a cost effective anesthetic against the cold, and cigarettes suppress hunger. The judgement people hold against them is reprehensible.

Good point. Homeless and non-homeless alike are similar in finding that alcohol and cigarettes are relatively cheap, effective, and necessary ways to numb the pain of existence sometimes.

And in the case of the homeless: actually part of survival.