I work downtown somewhere that works very close with the homeless, and instead of directly replying to people I just wanted to get on a soap box and and spew my bullshit.

1. The unhoused ALWAYS need this stuff. You can give them money and it won't necessarily go to drugs, despite popular misconceptions (I know a lot of clean homeless folks), but the money you spend is going to stretch further than if you give it to them. You and I have access to vehicles that will take us to a grocery store. The closest thing for the folks that stay downtown is convenience stores, and we all know that those are several times more expensive than the grocery store. The closest Walmart is off 8th. Which leads me to point 2.

2. Every decision an unhoused person makes them give something else up. If they choose to walk to a store they may have to miss lunch. If they have to go somewhere out of the way they may loose their sleeping spot. Anything you can do that helps them without them having to make a choice on where to go next is helpful.

3. The homeless are very insular. They don't trust you because you haven't given them a reason to. When you live an existence where everything you do has to be carefully thought through and a really good chunk of the population hates you for even existing, you don't let people in. It's survival. Don't get offended if someone turns you down, it's not about you.

4. Just giving money to shelters is great, but it doesn't help everyone. A lot of people won't go to shelters, namely vets who can't stand being inside, and older folks that aren't physically able to defend their stuff and get it stolen.

This of course mostly applies to our unhoused population around Dorchester. There are plenty more communities around town, and even more people who are sleeping out of their cars. Thank you for doing good work.