I think the term “homeless” is really a euphemism that makes it easier for wealthy people to talk about poor people (if you have shelter, food, and are not living paycheck to paycheck you count as wealthy), and it results in misunderstandings about what the real problems are.
Giving a house to someone who lives on the streets is a nice gesture but it doesn’t address the underlying problems - unemployment, unemployability, health problems, psychological problems, lack of social support structure, lack of supportive relationships (e.g. friends and family) - you can’t just fix someone’s life with a building.
It’s like a grade-school-level understanding of the problem (“just give the homeless people homes! then they’re not homeless anymore! problem solved!”). Without putting in a real effort to support these individuals’ lives, to understand and address what put them in that situation in the first place, this is a temporary patch that will end in relapse.
I think the term “homeless” is really a euphemism that makes it easier for wealthy people to talk about poor people (if you have shelter, food, and are not living paycheck to paycheck you count as wealthy), and it results in misunderstandings about what the real problems are.
Giving a house to someone who lives on the streets is a nice gesture but it doesn’t address the underlying problems - unemployment, unemployability, health problems, psychological problems, lack of social support structure, lack of supportive relationships (e.g. friends and family) - you can’t just fix someone’s life with a building.
It’s like a grade-school-level understanding of the problem (“just give the homeless people homes! then they’re not homeless anymore! problem solved!”). Without putting in a real effort to support these individuals’ lives, to understand and address what put them in that situation in the first place, this is a temporary patch that will end in relapse.
It’s still a huge help. You don’t have to solve all of a persons problems to help them with one of their problems.
Arguably the most immediate of their problems, that gets in the way of them addressing ALL of their other problems.
As commented elsewhere in the post.