Despite what you may have been told, there's no such thing as "The Homeless."
To be sure, thousands of people live on the streets and under the freeway overpasses of our cities and towns. But it's a fatal mistake to lump them all into a single, homogeneous group called "THE Homeless."
This simplistic definition is at the root of our failure to provide compassionate help to needy citizens, while at the same time solving the public health, nuisance and crime problems caused by the growing numbers of street dwellers.
Too many advocates, pundits, and elected officials lump all street dwellers into one simplistic category or another. At one extreme, some see only poor unfortunates who are simply down on their luck. Some others see only good-for-nothing bums who spend their days harassing passersby.
Battle lines are drawn. If you're sick of stepping in human feces on your doorstep, you're heartless. If you think taxpayer dollars should help folks facing bad luck and trouble, you're softhearted.