Giving homeless people MONEY instead of FOOD can save their lives this winter, shelters cost money, being able to sit in McDonald’s and nurse a coke for a couple hours to warm up costs money, often accessing public toilets (whether it’s to use them, wash up or just to be out of the wind) costs money.
Just give homeless people cash, just do it, no excuses, no whining about “enabling their drug habits”, if you have money to spare, give it and possibly save someone from literally freezing to death.
Bringing this back cause this heat can kill you, giving money is always in season
excellent post & I hope it’s ok if I add on re: the enabling drug habits bit: not being in withdrawal can also save a life. if you’re stopping on the street to help someone on your way somewhere you accept that you’re helping them with their most urgent needs on that given day, without knowing every variable in the situation. it’s basic compassion. you wouldn’t realistically have the time to complete an extensive moral inventory on them based on your own perspective/contexts/biases, and you shouldn’t anyway. it’s not your place. sometimes direct aid is giving extra resources to help someone get through their day a bit more easily and safely whatever that day happens to look like. if you have discomfort about your lack of control in that situation just admit that your motives lie elsewhere and move on, rather than loudly defending stigmatizing rhetoric to try to still get credit for what you would’ve done If Only that extremely marginalized person had lived up to your sheltered standard of purity.
