One of the misconceptions that many people have about the homeless is that they are all alcoholics or drug addicts. Because people are reluctant to give money to support a habit, they often use this as an excuse not to help the homeless. Actually it is estimated that only 20-40% of the homeless have a substance abuse problem. Most of the time it didn't cause the person's homelessness and some of the homeless may have started using after becoming homeless because they are exposed to others who are using and it helps to numb the pain of being on the street. Of course, some of the people who are panhandling may not even be homeless. We have all seen people with signs asking for money who are well dressed and clean. Living on the street tends to make it difficult for a person to maintain good grooming so if a person has been homeless for very long, it usually shows. The homeless who do panhandle will usually use the money they get for food, water, socks and toiletries. I've been known to give out food rather than money because of concerns about substance abuse. This was one of the misconceptions I had about the homeless. Sometimes when we aren't sure what to do that is helpful, we tend to just look away and ignore the problem. Ask any homeless person and they will tell you that people look away and won't make eye contact. One of the reasons for writing Life at Ground Level was to help people see the homeless as others like themselves who have fallen on hard times. Awareness is the first step in being able to do something about a problem. Check out our book for a look at what life is like on the street:
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Janet L Black, RN, FNP,
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Janet L Black | Janet's Blog |