An ex of mine worked with the homeless through a training program attached to a shelter. Maybe 2 or 3 out of 10 took the training seriously and were stable enough to actually put it to any use. The rest were just there for free bus passes and meals, or were too unstable to hold even an unskilled job for a month.

The hardest part was that those who needed help the most could have gotten it through the program, but were so untrusting of seeing a doctor that they flat out refused- most thought they would be locked up in a ward or some similar conspiracy fear.

Winter around here is no joke, and it is hard to see them and not want to help, but the truth is that the visibly homeless don't want it enough to change. The invisible homeless- the people who don't look like a living stereotype- usually make it out because they still have hope.