Why Are People Homeless?

Many times when I ask people to help the homeless or give to the poor they say the same things:
Why don't they get a job.
Why don't they make money like me?
Why do I have to do it?

So why are people homeless? The number 1 reason people are homeless is a series of catch 22 situations that people can't get out of. Here's one scenario.

Hank decides to move to a new city with a new job. But Hank looses his wallet two months after he gets there. Hank's parents died long ago and his siblings just don't talk to each other anymore. He has $1000 in the bank. He goes to the bank to get a new debit card, and they ask him for ID. When he can't produce it, they say they can't give him a card. He asks for his money, but they need an ID. He goes to the Driver's license bureau and they ask for $40, a SS card, and a birth certificate. Hank doesn't have an SS card and he hasn't had a birth certificate for years. Hank goes to the SS place and they need a birth certificate. He contacts his state to get a birth certificate, but they charge him $45 to get a new one and they have to send it to an address.

Hank asks his work to just give him the checks from now on, but it can't happen for 1 full month. That means Hank can't pay his bills for 1 full month. However, he hasn't paid last months either. His landlord can't allow him to be 2 months late and asks him to leave. Hank is now homeless and has $2000 in the bank, which he can't touch. Now that he doesn't have an address, he can't get a birth certificate. He can't do his job, and they ask him to leave but they do put his last ch3eck into his bank account. He begins asking people for money on the street till he can get a check.

Another scenario….

James moves to a city for a change. The city he has been living has a lot of bad memories and he'd like to just forget all of the things that have happened to him in the past. (I think we've all been here at one point or another.) He gets to the new city and starts a new job. His mother is very sick with Alzheimer's and his dad is doing his best to take care of his mother and deal with her problems. His brother is struggling because of a bad economy.

About 8 months after he arrives in the new city he looses his job. He spends the next couple of weeks desperately looking for a job. He sends out his resume to place after place after place. He's not getting any responses and he's getting nervous. At the end of a month he has to decide if he's going to spend the remaining money on his bills or himself. He decides to pay his rent, but he can't pay any of his other bills.

James has a college degree and is overqualified for most of the minimum wage jobs that are out there. Even though he applies for every job and at every place he can, he just can't get hired. He hears about places that will help him with paying bills, getting food, and various other services but it will take a full day at each place to get the services needed. He decides that it's worth it, and spends the next week working to get these services he needs. However, there have been a few interviews that conflicted with these services. He went to the interview instead and now is on the waiting list again - and he didn't get the job.

At the end of the second month he has food and an agency paid his overdue electric. He lost his car because he couldn't pay the bill, so now he has no transportation to get to and from work. Any job that is based on driving, is no longer an option. He has no cable or internet because he didn't pay the bills. His landlord is looking for the next month's rent and he knows James can't pay it. James moves into a weekly rent place and this depresses him more than anything. He has no many for a bus or a taxi and the food that was given to him is running out. He is now asking people on the street for help.

So, why don't more people help the homeless? Are these stories out of the ordinary? NO!