I personally know someone who kept himself clean (by which I mean physically, he was never on drugs to start with) and got a lot of qualifications done while he was homeless. It's called a no fixed address form. That's just a response to the uneducated. Of course the homeless deserve their human rights as much as anyone else.

Excellent point.
The way to really help the poor is to help them not to be impoverished anymore. This is done by giving them a minimum income that is essential for their needs. Sounds simple.
People can be better educated, again it takes effort from them and us.
We have problems here with over educated people being unemployable so the educations needs to be at 2 levels, basic living skills, the three "R" s plus computer literacy and some other skills, then some vocational education in areas of skill shortages.
Housing costs are just ridiculous where I live, prices just never stop going up, I keep telling people to move to less expensive areas to find work and more affordable housing. Decentralization is certainly part of the answer.
But nothing will happen without the will of the average person via our politicians. We can solve the problems, but we won't, and I for one am sick on constantly applying band aids.

Here in the rural areas, we do not see many homeless people, but sometimes I meet them at DD early in the morning. We buy them coffee and donuts and include them in our conversations. One guy told me he is trying hard to think of an offence that would l;and him in the country jail for the winter, but no longer. He was a very fun
ty guy. He must have succeeded in his plan, becaise one day he did not show up anymore.

I think the homeless are generally poor, not necessarily under educated. Circumstances of downward mobility vary, however in the richest country in the world there is no excuse to have people living on the streets.There are too many other options for housing and care. Among the homeless population there is a great deal of untreated mental illness which needs to be addressed. But all people deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion.

Still on vacation I have encountered many homeless people. They deserve to have a safe place to pitch their tent, sleeping bag and belongings. Why can't a city allow a vacant lot to be used as a camp? In this city they are barricading empty lots with barbed wire. Sad

It's really a shame, because especially in this economy so many people are a paycheck away from being homeless. I bet some wealthy entitled people my know people like that but aren't even aware of their financial status. Some people may not have the support of friends or family or may have experienced other setbacks that may have compromised their financial situation. It can happen to anyone at any time, so who is anyone to judge.

There are no simple answers for a complicated issue.

I knew a young homeless guy who just wanted to be left alone and do his own thing (drink). He would do odd jobs to get money to spend it on booze. He found a job on a tramp steamer and made his way to Mexico where he got into a bar fight and was stabbed to death. A lot of homelessness is addiction related and they don't want help. It's hard to give dignity where it is not wanted.

It's not even just people in positions of influence, at least not on a large scale. Occasionally, I'll even see homeless-shaming memes on social media, and it is so incredibly discouraging. Once it was from an MBA who is now a middle manager and used to be homeless himself, and another time, it was from a disabled former RN.

It might be a good idea to stop electing opportunistic narcissists, who are high on ambition but low on compassion.

Everyone deserves to be treated with human dignity...at least until they prove otherwise.

The only reason for government us to protect the most vulnerable.