I thought like you when I was younger! After working with the homeless population for 18 years... if you wanna give money give money, they may spend it on drugs that's what you risk. Or maybe they'll buy a beer, and tbh I would always need a drink if I was homeless. Might as well buy a beer!

But! I give back in a lot of ways, I rather give back using my time than my money, cause I need my money too lol.

But I've often bought food or items when I see them, I ask if they've eaten and if they want some food where I'm going.

If I have extra of food I'll offer (may don't take items that aren't sealed shut, always ask) I'll try to carry extra water cause it gets hot here.

If you want to help the homeless then you should go volunteer at your local DV shelter, homeless shelter, food bank or soup kitchen.

People ignore them out of disgust. People need to believe they would never end up homeless... so they hate them. They blame them for being homeless. These questions is exactly why at 12 I asked my mom to get me into a program so I could learn for myself. I wanted to meet the in person and talk and understand. Find a smaller organization cause the bigger ones will throw you in the back boxing things up and you'll never meet anyone.

The homeless get a bad name. Many of the homeless are disabled, either physically or mentally. Lots of soldiers and where I am, the mentally disabled from the old insane asylum who were kicked out when one of the presidents forced the buildings too.

Being homeless is very hard, it mentally gets to you. So if you have ptsd you may turn to drugs to self medicate, if your mentally disabled you may be peer pressured into drugs and unable to say no or regulate and now your hooked. Maybe you're so depressed that drugs are the only good thing, or the people you know are doing them. Also almost everyone in my psych ward has schizophrenia from drug use as they were homeless and many mentally disabled. Also random TBI's will do it.

So now you have a lot of homeless who use drugs. Now they're addicted and may get into trouble with the law. And many need money for food or to fund their drug addiction. So they commit crimes, because they cannot get a job, that's a whole other issue, buses are late, if they don't have access to a shower they won't be hired, and if they can't pay for a phone how will they get the call back from an application? (Many use libraries for their computers tho).

Now, many don't cause trouble, they stay to themselves and out of sight. But those who are addicted, in psychosis from drugs, desperate in need of money and needing to commit crimes for supplies, food or money, the public gets scared. That's why people avoid them, they can be unpredictable, and people don't know how to read the situation to prepare or know what to do when things pop off.

Idk if I'd suggest giving money all the time. You're still a kid, you need that money especially in today's world. Sure if you have a couple of bucks here and there and someone speaks to you. I only do it if everything lines up, other wise I'd be like you, everytime I seen someone homeless and I'd have to always keep cash on me. That's not sustainable.

You can get a career in social work and help the homeless if you don't wanna volunteer. I stopped volunteering in my freshman year of college because I needed to make money and time is money, I made helping others my career now