How do you honestly react to homeless people on the street?

[MrsBrentford]

I watched a documentary, can’t remember which, about homeless people and how they feel totally invisible, and inhuman and that made me feel shit.

Thought about my own behaviour and how I occasionally give money or food but more often than not I hurry past and avoid eye contact.

So this year I have decided to make eye contact, smile and say hello to every homeless person I see in town (and there seem to be an increasing amount in my town ).

Is anyone else guilty of this?

I always have little kids with me so just walk past, maybe smile. It's not that I wouldn't like to be friendly (I don't have the money to be charitable) but IME drunk people and addicts can be very unpredictable. I speed up when we walk past pubs for the same reason, even naice ones on summers days. I don't like being around intoxicated people.

Not that all homeless people are alcoholics or addicts I'm sure, but where I live they do seem to all have a can and the most prolific beggars I've seen basically folded in half which I think is people on that spice stuff

There is an industry of beggars in my city who come from far and wide . The real homeless are marginalised. Give to Shelter and local homeless charities. I would patronise some one with a smile

It depends.
I mostly see local homeless people drug addicts. I usually smile if it feels safe though some have serious Mh issues.
I do give cash to the ones at the local shop, I considered offering the female a shower warm clothes, DP said it would be rude, she was very pretty when she arrived 2 years ago, now she has hardly any teeth.
I let her use my phone.
Though if I'm in the city I mostly avoid eye contact. I know it's awful.
I'm suspicious of the foreign homeless and rarely give.

Though charity hostels are not safe. You see it on here, people assume they don't want a hostel as they can't take drugs.
The hostels are violent, you're sharing a room with 40 people, 10 of which are probably crazy, sleeping with one eye open. I'd rather hide in a doorway.

I feel like this is a tough one, on one hand I think it's awful that homelessness even still exists and feel so bad for the homeless especially in cold weather etc. I've given food/drinks to homeless in the past and have donated money to various homeless charities. However, on the other side I feel like I don't want to give them actual money, as its likely it will just get spent on booze or drugs. There is a lot of homeless people in my town unfortunately and I know from someone who has done voluntary work with the homeless that alot of them are offered a place in a shelter but turn it down as they aren't allowed to drink/take drugs/cause trouble while they are there. There is also a few who sit outside in the day begging for money, then pack up at the end of the day and go home back to a flat or houseshare. I want to help those who genuinely need it but it's hard to know who just knows how to play on people's sympathy

Where I live, there arent really any people on the street. I went to both Birmingham and London recently and was so shocked by the number of people on the street. It's so easy living elsewhere to be hidden from the problem and not realise the extent of it

Too many career beggars near me. The genuine homeless by me are obvious, same clothes every time, don't beg, genuinely look helpless. I did ring a homeless shelter once concerned about someone begging in the snow and they told me there's always somewhere for them to go but they don't want to. I will smile but I don't believe giving money is the answer so donate to a charity or sometimes do give food if I believe them to be genuine zzz

I’m often very ashamed of myself when it comes to how I treat homeless people on the street.
Head down or on occasion I look the opposite way ☹️
Just before Christmas there was a lady, probably younger than me, sitting on a stack of cardboard boxes by the bus stop. My daughter asked me about her and why she was there and not at home, I said how lucky we are and not everyone has a home and money for food, and my 4yr old (nearly 5) said, “well we should share more shouldn’t we?” Such a simple idea but she was right, so I do try to give what change I have in my purse and talk more to homeless people now. I can’t give lots but I’m not going to miss the odd £2 here and there. I have since spoken to this young lady and she said to me, thanks for stopping to say hello, no one has spoken to me in days, I’m all alone. It broke my heart. I don’t know how or why she found herself homeless, but it doesn’t take much to treat them as people as opposed to dirt (which I used to be guilty of!)

www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/woman-81-found-outside-dublin-s-gpo-by-homeless-volunteer-1.4135792
She rather sleep on the road than the hostels no drug use, she wasn't worried she couldn't take drugs on site.
I know from someone who has done voluntary work with the homeless that alot of them are offered a place in a shelter but turn it down as they aren't allowed to drink/take drugs/cause trouble while they are there
This is such a cliche.
If you watch UK seaside hostels they're full to the brim. Tins for breakfast. Teenagers selecting who gets a bed, the girls got priority. These had single rooms.

NoMorePoliticsPlease

Agree, 100%

There are several fakers in my town. We have a really great support group who help any homeless people, they don't just give money. They help support them into accommodation, help them in the right direction for getting their lives back together etc. It's fab.
But the fakers are shit. Same half a dozen men and women. I'm not being facetious or making assumptions. They really aren't homeless.

So to answer your question I walk by. I support my local food bank, women's shelter, donate my decent clothing to the local causes that directly help those in need.
I don't give money to anyone

I avoid them if possible. I presume that they are either drug takers or professional beggars. I know there are genuine people who are homeless but I don't know how I'd be able to tell.

Our local beggar gets the train from the next county to sell big issue here!
He has a home, and family. He openly tells people this.

Is the Big Issue no longer just for the homeless? I guess the money still goes to the charity....but feel like it should be reserved for truly needy, as this is it's selling point.

My son in law works in a supermarket with a regular beggar outside it. Someone bought him (the beggar, not my son in law) a pasty and a hot drink and he came into the store and demanded that he exchange the pasty and drink for money. When this was refused he became angry and aggresive and the store security guard had to eject him.

If I take the bus to work, 5 min walk home to bus stop, 2 mins from bus stop to work. I get asked by at least 10 people on my 2 minute walk, and walk past more. If I walk to work, about 45 mins, then I probably see up to a hundred on the weekend, 50+ on the week days (I work nights so when people are out the homeless come out).
If I gave a 50p to everyone I see every time I see them I’d probably be broke. They have stolen tips from restaurants around us, pester our customers and I regularly have to escort them out of the bin store at work. They used to set up camp and sleep there and try and break in to the flats we lived in to the point we had to move.
I used to be sympathetic but after one too many aggressive following me as I walk 20 minutes telling me the same life story over and over again. I look down at my phone and don’t interact with them if at all possible.

There was a documentary on radio 4 the other week. It’s now on BBCiplayer. It advises not to provide ANYTHING to the homeless so that they seek help from the many agencies that can check them out medically and help them get the support to get them off the streets.

That's all very well if they're in a big town or city where there ARE agencies that help the homeless. In my small market town, there are no such agencies. The big coastal resort towns usually have something, sometimes several agencies but smaller Sussex towns have nothing at all.

Places like Uckfield, Heathfield, Lewes, Crowborough all have rough sleepers, as do smaller coastal towns like Seaford, but no resources dedicated to street sleepers, no-one doing outreach work, no soup kitchens or church hall drop-ins.

Homeless people often feel safer sleeping out in these small towns, where they don't tend to get pissed on by drunks on their way home or beaten up by bigoted yobs.

Fortunately here there’s not many visible rough sleepers, but that’s because it’s a small village. The next town over, where I used to live, is unfortunately full of career beggars. They sicken me, same guy parks his Range Rover a few streets away from where he sits all day with the same weird “talent” that’s actually glued down so involves zero effort besides a tiny groom that makes him look like he’s doing something. Oddly enough the streets go from one every 5th shop to empty once the weather really turns and Christmas is done.

I don’t mind giving things to people who really need it, But because of the number of fakes I refuse to hand over cash, which does make me feel sorry for the genuine ones more cause a bottle of vodka might make the night pass quicker than a sausage roll.

I would much prefer to give to a homeless charity. But I will always smile and say hello if they do. Mostly they don't. I have occasionally bought someone a coffee.

AlternativePerspective . The majority aren’t homeless. The majority are part of begging gangs

Comments like this really really upset me .

Even if they are part of some mysterious gang I still depart for work and see them shivering in their dirty sleeping bags . I see them late at night . All day . So where are all these homeless charities ?

Comments such as ‘gangs’ deny the horrible reality and existence of these people

They are homeless and if I can
Spare a £1 and a Smile I always will

I strongly doubt that they are heading off to either a BMW or a hostel

My brother is homeless, a combination of drug abuse and severe undiagnosed mental health issues, meant we had to unfortunately ask him to leave.
There is literally no funding for MH so no chance of a diagnosis due to ongoing drug abuse, ongoing drug abuse due to the MH issues. Round and round in circles we go. No help, no support, no one with any power to do anything to help him as he is an adult, when in reality he has no grip on reality and most of the time doesn't know what your talking about. How anyone can think he is capable of making his own decisions is beyond me, but this is the position many find themselves in.

They are not well enough to work mentally or physically, there are very few shelters that you can repeatedly stay at, maybe once every couple of weeks if they have enough room. Homeless people cannot work so they cannot afford housing. It's all good and well saying there are charities but the homeless don't want the help, the fact is there is no ongoing support past a couple of days, so they literally cannot change their life unless they are of sound mental health and 99% of homeless do not have sound mental health.

Sectioning is rarely an option as there are not enough beds, even after trying to commit suicide there was still no beds so he couldn't be sectioned.

We have all the money to put into this situation but there is still nothing we can do. Homeless are ignored there is no serious help and no way for the majority to get themselves out of the situation they find themselves in.

Also, he has designer trainers as my parents bought them for him for Xmas.

@purpleboy surely it would have been more sensible to give him a couple of nights in a hotel rather than a pair of designer trainers?

And would the hotel agree to that?

I don’t carry money or a debit card, I use Apple Pay for everything and plan my trips out accordingly.
I have a truly horrible memory, and lose things a lot, so I can’t trust myself.

When asked for money by those on the streets, I look them in the eye and just apologise saying I don’t have anything on me.

Mostly I get a ‘Thank you, have a nice day’ back.
I think so many must feel invisible, and it’s a very sad way to spend your day, asking for help and being ignored.