nice disclaimer.

I'm all for helping the homeless if they are homeless not by choice. Some are homeless because they literally have no where to go. I think compassion on them is needed, most people have written them off as lazy and dirty and gross. I can't pretend to actually have a clue of what its like to live on the streets, and while some want to be there, I don't believe they are all lazy. Its said that most Americans are just 2 paychecks away from homelessness, I believe thats true. I agree, SPCPeters, that we should ask for something in return, and I think if they were give a chance by society we might get something, but no one offers them a chance, just a snide remark and a quarter.

Those are two very good comments (nothing personal tabitha). I think that when you combine them you end up with a very well rounded good philosophy on helping the homeless.
I do think, however, that there is some value when giving handouts without expecting anything in return. It doesn't do a whole lot for helping people get off the streets when you give them a sandwich or anything like that, but I think it has great value for the giver to do something for someone else just for the sake of doing it.
But yeah, you guys are so right. Ryan, weren't you homeless for a few hours once? Or something like that?
Lisa, it's pretty freaklicious to think about the fact that everyone in America is living off love, credit cards, and their next pay check.

last week i thought something horrible had happened to the husband and i really seriously was thinking about my finances and wondering if i could survive for a while without him . . . i think i could afford rent for a few months before my cash ran out. i had hoped that by then something would have come through and i could still have been able to make my bill payments.

luckily, nothing (serious)had happened to the husband and i don't have to worry about being homeless for the time being . . .

i don't have any solutions for homelessness. except that they are humans, just like you and me. they have names. i suggest asking the next panhandler you see what their name is and using it. people love hearing their name. say, "well james, i don't have any change, but i hope you have a good day." or whatever . . .

yeah, really, no solutions here.

despite what you think i don't have all the answers.

Working in downtown Portland brought me into contact with a lot of homeless people. It was discouraging to me because no matter how many sandwiches or sweatshirts or handfuls of change I shared with them, there were always dozens more that I couldn't help. I eventually got to the point where I had to avoid the areas where I knew the homeless would congregate because my inability to help each one of them made me so depressed. I felt guilty about avoiding them, but it was better than getting up close and personal with people who I couldn't help.

The runaway teens were sometimes on the streets because of their own rebelliousness or drug addiction, but many of them were there because their home situation was so toxic and abusive that they would rather live on the streets. My company donated a lot of money to help build and run a center for those kids, and it made me glad I worked there.

A lot of the homeless are on the streets because their mental illness was too much for their families to handle. Many of them don't have anywhere to go, and they wouldn't be able to handle a job if they had one. It's heartbreaking.

this is sort of a side note, but can I say that your cool, or not so cool a(it depends on how you look at it) for posting every day. I can't find enough in my brain to write about that doesn't have to do with sweeping or taking a shower...

I don't understand how anyone can't have stuff to say. It makes sense if you don't have time type or read blogs, but to have nothing to say amazes me. At any given point I have two or three different ideas for blogs on my mind. Usually one of those dissapears somewhere back in the back of my head, but the other two or three tend to pop out in one form or another. They aren't all good posts, but they all intruig me in some way. I think about posting about the food that I'm eating, places I've lived, funny signs that I see, wierd names that I hear, bad jokes that I've told, and all that kind of good stuff. It's so liberating 'cause it gives me an outlet. Too often I think that people (including my wife) worry too much about what to say and what topics to cover. Instead I say type about anything and everything that tickles your fancy. I'm not sure people will always enjoy it, but that doesn't really matter so much I think.

I agree with you Jen. Maybe because that is what most of our days contain? Cleaning house and then cleaning children, then we clean the house again...and then have to clean the children (or child in my case). It really is a vicious cycle which is rather time consuming...but I love it so much!!

blogging is an addiction of sorts. You can't just join in and post everyday. In fact, it's best you don't because usually, those are the worst. At least they were for me... Once you get into the flow of it, you start blogging about Robin Williams when you are supposed to be doing other things...

Giving is a spiritual discipline, a gift from God to us. When he gives it to us in the form of a homeless person, why should we question the gift too much.

I can honestly say I'd like to find the person who can use it the most, but if that isn't the person God sends, I'm gonna' give anyway.