ANSWERS: 3
  • Sometimes the best people end up in the worst situations. Personally, though, a majority of the time that I've tried to help a desperate person, I've ended up myself physically assaulted and injured. It's sad, but life is sad. If you try to help someone like this, there is a pretty good chance they will end up taking advantage of you. If you give them money, sure, they might use it to buy food or to save and put toward a car or an apartment, but, again, more often than not, they, statistically, will spend the money on illegal drugs and/or alcohol. If you give them a hot sandwich, there is a fair chance that they will throw it at you and maybe even try to rob you. But, worst mentioning, I grew up in Detroit, where the general culture is probably a little rougher than most towns in the US.
    • bostjan the adequate 🥉
      And that's not to say that desperate people do not deserve any help, just to say that sometimes the help needs to come from the community rather than the individual. If someone is on a self-destructive path, there is little chance that a lone stranger can help them unless they are ready to accept actual help; however, at least in the USA, there are few programs offered in most communities to give desperate people job training, anti-addiction resources, or any sort of social support, for that matter. The federal and state governments can offer them a check, but usually only if the person has a permanent address, which, obviously, they won't have if they are homeless, so it's ineffectual.
  • I've helped some. Here it is illegal to panhandle so if someone asks for money I tell them it is illegal. I don't usually give it. I have given food. (As of yet no one has thrown it at me.) I did have a homeless person that was living at the same shelter as me grab my neck from behind. She claimed she was trying to see how I would defend myself because someone had attacked her. (I heard later it was her "madam" and she was a prostitute) And I showed her how to defend herself from a choke hold. But I was an old lady using a walker and I think she thought I'd be an easy target. I've actually let some spend the night, but I knew them personally from staying in the shelters. I remember one guy who asked for some of the food I was eating and I shared it, too. One guy I had helped used to bring his friends in need to my house. I'd give them some food. But he was taking advantage so I sent him away. I have also walked past them, but I pray for them. CAPS used to have a little book called Hand to Hand that listed the various social services in the area: Where to get food, clothing and shelter, etc. And I used to carry one of those to hand out. But that list is obsolete now.
  • If someone is begging, I usually look at their clothes, if they are not new and they do look homeless, I'll give money or buy food. Better to beg than to steal. Could be me one day, no one's exempt.

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