What I find strange is how someone doesn't have a mother, father, brother, grandparents, aunts, cousins to help a little when in need. I mean they must have been born somewhere, doesn't anyone in the family tree own a place to live?
someone who becomes homeless due to addiction is not likely to be supported by their family because people, in general, hate addicts. even well-off families often can't or won't afford to pay for the help the addict needs, or the addict needs more help than can be afforded, and eventually the family is likely to get sick of it and the addict is again homeless.
you might believe that these aren't the case, and I can't convince you, but the traditional family support network barely exists now and usually doesn't accomplish much when it does exist.