The “worthy” homeless
posted: July 16, 2008 | category: homelessness, mental health, substance abuse
tags: alcohol, crack cocaine, panhandling
A few days ago, I wrote a post in response to a News & Record story about Mark Hoffman, a mentally ill homeless man who used to sit on a bench near a church in Greensboro, but now sits on a bench by a church in Catonsville, Maryland — his hometown.
Here’s what Sam Spagnola wrote about it:
“It’s too bad that the panhandlers and the drug addicts give a bad impression that often overshadows sympathy and compassion for people like Mark.”
[Sigh.]
And… scene.
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3 Responses to “The “worthy” homeless”
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The vast majority of homeless are the mentally ill, the mentally handicapped and those addicted to some drug. If we are only concerned with the “worthy” homeless we simply wouldn’t have a homeless problem because these “worthy” people wouldn’t be homeless. Or, homeless for long.
It is unfortunate that so many people including public officials and even some of those who serve on boards for the homeless have this attitude.
If there were more people who are actually on the front lines and the homeless themselves who were dictating policy then so much more could be done and the allocated money spent where needed. There are any number of programs that have been undertaken and shown to be effective, but all the officials seem to want to do is have another study done. I get so tired of the studies that are then put on a shelf and yet another study is ordered. But then again the Bureaucracies do have to do something to justify themselves don’t they? BB
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen…. and so on.
Thank you. Love you.
And p.s., my friend, I love you even on those occasions when we disagree. LOL.