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'm in agreement with santasay too
Last Summer I was stopped by a young man who offered me a necklace he'd made from betting shop slips which he'd made into origami-type necklaces and was selling for 50p each.They were nice. I refused, but we started chatting. I'm physically disabled now and he was so helpful to me. I usually go into a chinese place for lunch and they call me a taxi afterwards to go home. The meal + tip is usually 8-10 pounds.We'd spent so much time chatting I skipped my weekly 'treat' of lunch and offered him the 10.00 I'd usually spend. He was overwhelmed and initially refused it, saying that he'd accept 5.00 gratefully but 10.00 was too much.! And that was the start of an ongoing friendship we have every time I go into the city centre.
There but for the Grace of God and all that..

we'd spent...

I do smile if they're looking at me and if I believe they are genuine I will give them money or buy them food.

A guy sat outside our local Aldi with a sob story for everyone. It turns out he was lying and had a home. It's disgusting when people do this as it stops the genuine homeless maybe getting any extra help from the general public.

I now give to a local homeless charity who I know are out daily feeding, helping and supporting the homeless in any way they can. I also always buy a big issue if I come across a seller.

I used to volunteer in a homeless place and some of the people that came in. There was an architect and a social worker who through no fault of their own had lost everything. Just pure bad look and a government that decided to stop benefit for some of the most vulnerable. Some were off their heads on drugs and so young. When I talked to them I'd generally hear a story of a pretty grotty upbringing and no family to fall back on.

What's the answer to this problem?

I don't think that "more money" is the answer - I think most of the people referred to in this thread have "complex needs" and place themselves beyond help.

I'm starting to think that the only thing that would solve this problem is to create some kind of "Modern Vagrancy Act" whereby any person who appears to be homeless / begging / sleeping on the street is challenged & warned by a police officer. If they're challenged for a second time then they are arrested and placed in "protective custody" where they are kept in reasonable comfort, fed, offered medical attention; but any drugs or alcohol is confiscated. They can also be offered any support services to help them with their problems. After, say, 24hrs they are released. I accept that, for some, this will become an on-going cycle. But at least those homeless people will be being kept off the streets and supported & looked after by the state. Surely life in a "secure hostel" is better than life on the street?

If, as a society, we're not prepared to do this then we'll just have to accept that that "the homeless will always be with us".

I usually smile at the ones I know. If someone greets me I'll greet them back - if they ask for money and I can't give I'll look at them and say 'sorry' and they'll usually say something like 'have a nice day' and I'll say 'you, too'. When I give them some money I usually have a short chat. When I smoked I always gave them some cigarettes too. I tell my DC that people without a home are part of our community too and we should support them. We have done the shoeboxes at Christmas for homeless people too.

the ones outside shops where I live are all addicts and have homes, I don't give money to them.
Theres a couple off men who sleep rough and have mental health problems, I give money or buy food for them.

I tend to give money usually only to the younger men because I read somewhere (whether this is correct I don't know) that they have more trouble raising money because people have less sympathy for them. What they use it for I really don't mind.

@mrsbrentford - I completely agree. If I was sitting on a freezing cold pavement I might want a drink to get me through. As far as I'm concerned I get to choose what to spend my money on so why shouldn't they. Nothing wrong with giving a coffee or some food but I'm quite happy to give money too. The reason homeless people drink or use drugs is not because they have so much money and not giving them money will not solve their drink or drug problem.

Yep where ever we go me and my son also hand over 5pounds, we came out of apollo theatre and we thought one young lad was dead, we had given money to him befour we went in, he wasn't dead just high on spice, in Southend we asked a homeless man what he wanted and my son brought him sandwiches and crisps an ddrinks(it was super hot) lots of bits the man was very touched, I don't give to one's in my town centre as the ones we always see are on spotted page on Facebook and photographed getting into their cars at the end of the day, and are not homeless.

I ignore them. I'm not afflicted with liberal guilt.

I'm not afflicted with liberal guilt.
Neither am I. Just empathy.

I smile and say hello. I rarely have cash on me but I have given cash at times. Unfortunately we have a huge drug problem here and some homeless people can get quite rude and aggressive so I don’t judge or blame anyone for not wanting to interact. It can be intimidating sometimes. Money definitely isn’t always the answer, lots of homeless also have mental health issues with poor meds compliance so it’s not just lack of money that’s the issue it’s also lack of mental health support.

When people say things like 'he was wearing designer trainers' so can't be genuine. Maybe his mum bought them for him for his birthday as she knows he walks around a lot? Maybe he bought them when not down on his luck? Maybe someone took pity on him for not having any shoes and gave them to him - I know someone who that happened to!

It actually felt nice. Making a point of looking for and noticing the unnoticed and smiling and saying hello.

Seeing someone’s eyes light up because they had been noticed as a part of society and a fellow human being.

My behavior is different in different places.

I lived in one area with a very large homeless population. It was a tourist town with excellent weather and people would save up to “move” there because it was better than being homeless in other areas. You learned over time to recognize who would be aggressive asking for money, who was legitimately dangerous, and who was pretty chill and was homeless because they just couldn’t handle a structured living environment. Aggressive types got pointedly ignored, chill dudes got greeted as neighbors, and certain ones warranted crossing the street to avoid.

Where I live now, the only people I encounter are standing in the middle of busy intersections begging for money. I won’t engage at all because I think that practice is dangerous for all involved.

There are quite a few homeless people near my work. I say hello, give money if I have change (likewise I’ll give people change on the tube if I have it), or I’ll offer to buy them something from Pret (if someone is sitting outside).
I agree Op, I used to volunteer for a homeless charity, and often the clients would say someone stopping for a minute or two, or even just making eye contact / saying hello does make a difference.

I am so torn on this. There has been an obvious increase in the number of homeless people in recent years which does suggest that as a society we're doing something wrong. My instinct is to feel very sorry for the homeless of course but knowing someone who works for a local charity who tells me that there is a lot of help available and no need for anyone to be sleeping on the streets makes me wonder. Watching this documentary inews.co.uk/culture/television/60-days-on-the-streets-ed-stafford-homeless-channel-4-what-time-tv-77229 really made me question things too. Nothing is quite as it seems.

As SquireOfGreenway said, I do wonder sometimes if it would be better to take them into some kind of protective custody where they would have a roof, food, clean clothes and support to deal with MH problems and addictions if necessary.

The approach taken in Finland seems to be an interesting one www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/sep/14/lessons-from-finland-helping-homeless-housing-model-homes

I don't give anything directly to homeless people, I do donate to charities that help them.

@Puta I really, really! Hope you end up homeless one day! Go on say hello to one, give it a go, it might make you more human.

I sometimes say hi. Other times buy them food. I don't give them money.

I tend to ignore all strangers I see when out and about. I don't really want to interact with people I don't know, be that people trying to sell stuff, charity muggers, beggars. I just want to get to where I'm going without having to interact with strangers.

I have a direct debit to centrepoint so I help the homeless that way.

There's a list of charities that help here:
www.bigissue.com/latest/which-charities-are-helping-fight-homelessness-in-the-uk/

You sound charming @Puta

I used to work in an area that had a lot of homeless people (central London) and my approach would really depend on the homeless person in question. There were those I spoke to, bought food and hot beverages, gloves, hats etc. Then there were those I avoided as they were always drunk or high and very very loud.

As SquireOfGreenway said, I do wonder sometimes if it would be better to take them into some kind of protective custody where they would have a roof, food, clean clothes and support to deal with MH problems and addictions if necessary

No, you can't arrest someone for being homeless they have already been through enough shit In their lives. Also the reason a lot of them are homeless is a lack of mental health care and hospitals which used to treat people with mental health problems. Those with homes and families struggle to get access to mental health care so you really think they'll be pulling out all the stops to help the homeless.

And addiction isn't that simple, they have to want to stop. Arresting them isn't going to help!

I smile, say hello. I keep filled up/ partially filled mcdonalds coffee stickers in my bag an often had those out, or loyalty cards for our local indy coffee shop.

Once, I took a homeless bloke out to lunch. I didn't want to eat alone and he looked friendly enough. We had a lovely lunch in a cafe, we chatted and he told me about his life and how he ended up homeless. It had such a huge impact on me I became a social worker and support people like him, to prevent them becoming homeless. I think about him from time to time.