Street Beggars/homeless

[givemeaspell]

Do you give to street beggars?  We have had a woman in the past week sitting outside our local supermarket with a sign (I need help, homeless, please donate your spare change).  She had her head down with a cap on, quite thin, I don't usually give to street beggars but for some reason I felt the need, however when she lifted her head after I had placed the money in the container I could see she was clearly suffering the effects of drugs..very sad indeed.  I would have rather gone buy her a drink or some food than perhaps donating to her habit. 

[azureline**]

That was nice of you.... I would also rather give food or drink....

[crystal**flake]

No they freak me out.

[freakiness]

A young woman that was at school with my daughters was begging on the street this week.

Sad life to be living.

[i-need-a-martini]

I get accosted for money at least 10 times a week (I work in Surry Hills and have to walk through Central Station - the area is full of people asking for money). So I keep spare change handy to give out. How much I give out and to who depends on how polite they are.

Some are clearly homeless and some are clearly addicts.  But I don't care - they clearly need the money and that's that. I take the view that it's best that an addict gets their money honestly (by begging) than by stealing. Giving them a sandwich still means they have to get their money for a hit.

[aspie*mum]

No, I don't give them a cent.  In Australia we have a government that provides assistance.  If you truly are homeless there is help out there.  

AND I have never had someone (in Australia) ask me for money that I haven't believed was on drugs.

I'm not going to support some junkies drug habit.  Not now, not tomorrow NOT EVER.

There is no reason to be homeless and starving in Australia apart from drug use / alcohol abuse.

I support neither.

[kengillard]

giving money to someone who is obviously a Junkie, is not helping the addicted person at all.  They need to hit rock bottom to trigger a real desire to stay off the drug.

[izabsmiling]

 In Australia we have a government that provides assistance.  If you truly are homeless there is help out there.

There is no reason to be homeless and starving in Australia apart from drug use / alcohol abuse.

Do you really think this is how it is Aspie Mum ?

It's hard to imagine living on the streets, where a piece of cardboard could be your pillow, your bed, your roof, your home.

Every night across Australia, more than 100,000 people are homeless, of these 14,000 sleep rough. Every day, two out of three people who look for crisis accommodation are turned away; there are ‘no vacancies’.

Many end up on the street or living in inadequate single rooms, caravans, squats, cars, refuges, or sleeping on friends' couches. Vast numbers of our fellow Australians live in these dangerous and miserable conditions.

Each has a different journey into homelessness, and they are not who you may think. Close to half the homeless are female — many with young children — and nearly half of all homeless are under the age of 25.

A recent study by SAAP showed that domestic/family violence was the biggest single contributor to homelessness. Other major contributors are poor mental health, family breakdown, debt, poverty, lease expiry, family violence and abuse, chronic gambling and substance addiction. This is a long way from the favoured media image of our homeless population. It is a national disgrace that, in some areas, four out of five of those seeking help are suffering from a mental illness, but have nowhere else to go.

[izabsmiling]

the link for #7

http://www.streetsmartaustralia.org/homelessness

[i-need-a-martini]

Rock bottom for many drug addicts is death. 

The majority of the ones who can save themselves are the ones who have the money and the support to do so. Most drug addicts can' afford to seek help so they never get rehab. The govt helps them only to a certain point - not enough to kick an ingrained habit for good.

And no aspie - for some homeless there is no help from the government. Most the shelters are privately run and only temporary accommodation. You also forget that many homeless people are too far gone to think about collecting welfare or any entitlements. Most of the homeless people you see on the streets are mentally ill or not entitled to anything. Young teens make up over half this countriies homelessness and they can't access any government entitlements.