We help the homeless in a mid-sized city on the west coast. The county's efforts for the homeless have been pretty impressive, and when we help with the weekly clothing giveaway, some of the people are in such dire shape. I think these people I see are really in need of food, clothes, socks, blankets and towels, etc. For the most part, they are incredibly thankful. Some have obvious drug issues.
I like the little houses in the article, I'd be happy in one. I think in our community there are about 35 of the little houses and costs including security and leasing the space, approaches just north of $600K per year, which to me seems a little expensive.
The nearby tent city looks way too much like a garbage dump, and a body was found last year in an ice chest in the tent city. That clearly is not a safe environment.
I'm still thinking many of the homeless could be put to work in some manner. I would love to see graffiti removal and litter pickup on a regular basis for the county as a whole. If free food and housing is provided, it seems a lot of people could be put to work in a positive manner. I'm not sure if any communities are doing this.