Reply #65: The unfortunate truth is... [View All]

[Oerdin]

That most cities want the homeless confined to a certain part of skid row where they won't bother "normal" people. As someone who has volunteered to work at a soap kitchen here in San Diego I can confirm that most of these people are homeless for a reason and are not simply down on their luck; the majority had either substance abuse problems or had mental health issues which rendered them unemployable without treatment and they couldn't get treatment because they were unemployed. That means there is at least a thin veneer for why they want the homeless confined to certain areas where they will be out of sight and out of mind.

That said, I can't help but feel that if these people spent as much energy trying to end homelessness that they do attempting to hide the homeless then most of the homeless wouldn't be homeless. Alcohol & drug abuse treatment is what is needed along with free mental health treatment. If the homeless got this then we'd see big drops in the numbers of people on the streets.