homeless rant
Out of context: Reply #76
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- designbot0
I generally never give money to homeless people, but I always take each situation case by case and use discretion. Like some of the stories I see above not all homeless people have the same story. When you see them everyday it is easy to grow cold, and even get annoyed that they are asking for money. I think we should all have compassion for them. Jesus himself had compassion for, and even healed many people that would have been considered bums or hobos in his day.
My thinking is my money would be much more beneficial if I give it to a charity with low overhead that helps people who are homeless. Often times they will adress the real issues in the persons life to get them back on their feet. Simply handing someone a wad of cash is not going to fix the deeper issues that they almost always have, and thus often times even contributes to worsen their problems.
One other idea (never had the courage to do this....yet) that is somewhat radical but I think would be better than handing over money is this...get to know the homeless person. Buy lunch for them and sit down and talk face to face to them. I can only imagine they are so used to being treated like shit that for someone to actually aknowledge them as a fellow human being would really impact them. To let them know that someone actually cares about them would probably be pretty profound. You could get to know them and find out exactly how you could best help them.