Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
Estimates are that 75% of the homeless have a severe mental illness. Why all the drinking, etc? They are trying to self-medicate their mental health issues. It is common in all socioeconomic groups for people to self medicate before actually seeking help. When Reagan emptied the psychiatric hospitals this was the inevitable result. Lainey, yes the humane approach is frequently the cheapest but people would rather vilify the homeless instead of helping them.
+1

An excellent observation. I routinely came into contact with homeless transients. As our environment can be cruel to homeless, they tended to pass through on their way south. A common practice for LEOs was to transport homeless people from the county inwhich they were found to the next county along the way.

I became aware of a Priest at a local Catholic Church who had a mission serving the homeless. I knew the person would get a good bed to sleep in for a night and a hot meal. So I often called him and dropped them off at the church.

I remebered something taught me as a child about “hungry, homeless, sick, naked, imprisoned and thirsty” marginalized people. And something about a hard heart being one thing to avoid. I believe, it makes a difference.