[Velvet]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

For 25 years, my dad volunteered as a chaplain for the Denver Police Department and was in fact the head chaplain and carried a lieutenant’s shield. He often walked along the Platte River on the path and would sit on park benches and chat with whoever was sitting there. Often that was a homeless person, and often he asked the question asked by the original poster. The answer was similar to yours. He several times parked his personal car near where a “homeless” person was begging, then followed the person to his or her car and followed the person home or watched the “homeless” person get picked up by a car full of similar people and driven home, just so he would know for sure.

The “homeless” people my dad talked to generally said something like “If you want to give a liar money for drinks or drugs, go ahead. If you want to help, donate to homeless shelters. Some of these people are real homeless people in need, but most of those are already cared for by the city or county and will be back on their feet again soon.”

I don’t know if this is true or not. There’s a long history of restless men (nearly always men) who for various reasons have to keep moving and ride the rails or whatever. During the 1920s and especially the 1930s, there were thousands who were honestly seeking a days hard work in exchange for a bed and a couple meals or a place as a hired man on a farm. These days, if you don’t want to work, it’s easier to survive in the cities.

I would favor renting land for homeless camps on American Indian reservations, setting up hundreds of nice 9x12’ cabins at each site, and group showers, restrooms, and mess halls, then paying the Indians to guard them and keep them safe. And there. Then make services available only there and forbid panhandling and vagrancy in cities. This would be much cheaper and more efficient and kinder than the current situation. Certainly much cheaper than jail time.

Your dad sounds like a wise person who thought out how to approach this problem. Some churches teach that you should not encourage this behavior. They have organizations devoted to helping such people.