How would I help the homeless?

These days there is much suffering and due to financial problems one can get homeless. And this situation can happen to anyone for sure. You and I can get into some kind of financial problems due to divorce, health problems, accidents and unfortunate decisions resulting in having no money to pay for the bills. And this can result in being forced out of one's home and into the streets. You might think this cannot happen to you or me, but history has proven that this can even happen to those who are rich at this moment. And currently we see that many people are getting homeless or need to spend the night at a friends home. What is the influence of homelessness and how would I help the homeless?

Image by Htc Erl from Pixabay 

Influence of being homeless

Not having income, not having enough to pay all the bills can result in eviction, and thus one needs to sleep elsewhere. If one hasn't any friends or cannot find a place, then one needs to spend the night outside and thus one needs to sleep on the streets. Living on the streets is a dangerous thing. One doesn't know what others want, one doesn't know how to get the next meal and one only thinks about how to survive another day. This situation has a terrible influence on the person as one needs to endure all weather conditions, animals, strangers and one is forgotten by all as others are in disrespect. This has a deep profound influence on that person, as one isn't treated like a human being anymore. Being in this situation in many cases has influence on the mental state of the person.

How can the homeless be helped?

As homelessness has a physical and mental impact on the person, then they need to be treated as such as well. It means taking them of the streets and giving them a safe place at first while they are being assessed. With this I mean assess if the person has mental of physical problems which obviously need to be treated. How can that person be helped in the following steps. Maybe they need help in getting their identification in order so that they can travel back home, maybe they need some money to get home, maybe they need a basic income to recover, strengthen and be given time to think on what is best to do after this period. So there are many ways to solve the problems for the homeless person. It needs to be asked how we can help them, as they for sure know how they need to be helped.

Giving a roof above their heads

Affordable homes is a big issue, as people with little income and working also want to have a payable home, but they cannot pay for it. It means there aren't enough cheap homes to rent and thus this needs to be provided. Everyone has right on getting appropriate housing. If normal houses or apartments are too expensive to rent, then houses need to be subsidized so that people with less income have the opportunity to get into housing. If not, then they need to stay in a cheap hotel or need to remain living in their car. And that obviously isn't the best solution to this problem. But for the homeless just getting of the streets they need to be put in a safe place where they are given time. Time to recover and time to think on what to do next. Just by getting them off the streets and giving them a roof above their heads (not meaning a shelter, but a home, apartment or room for themselves) is the best way to help.

Giving basic income

Homeless people have problems with their finances and that can be of big influence. If they want to survive they need a steady income, so that they get time to heal and get time to think. This can only be done by providing a basic income for the needy. Basic income is government money that is not taxed and there are no conditions attached to it as well. So people can use it in any way possible, and that obviously suits their interest the best. It gives them the possibility to heal and gives time to think on what to do next. I think that the duration of giving a basic income can be time dependent, so that severe cases can get it long time and easy cases can get a stimulus in order to get their direct plans into action. And the benefits of such a basic income are more then the cost of it to society.

Help the homeless

If you see a homeless person then you should try to help them instead of calling the police. Help is a must and it needs to be in our nature to do so. If you would be in such a situation then you would want to be helped as well. So treat them like you want to be treated and help the homeless. If you cannot help, then call those who can help the needy. I do expect in the future that it should be forbidden to not help those in need, and thus we must arrange collectively that homeless people must be helped.