Hello Lanolin and Ray;
I feel as Christians we can agree we wouldn't wish homelessness on anyone. Its a fact that its always existed around the world since the Old and New Testaments.
The frustration is, for example, the distribution of clean syringe needles, buprenorphine, methadone, or anti-depressants, to combat the substance abuse addictions.
Or, we're enabling addicts to continue their habit but with clean needles which seems to be the consolation for solution in the metro cities. San Francisco is a horrible example of this and though the statistics in the USA is important information, this does does not mean that the social programs have the grand solutions. They are trying but are all missing a most important ingredient.
Jesus taught in the Gospels that the poor would always be with us. In my 20 years ministering to the homeless, drug and alcohol dependency, dysfunctional families, those in prison, time and time again, prayer, spending time with "people," (not labels,) buying them a cup of coffee or lunch, and inviting them to worship at church with us, not just telling them to go to church.
We would drive to the shelters, street corners and pick up brothers and sisters, go to church and afterwards, go out to lunch and then take them back with tremendous results! Men and women came to Christ, cleaned up (purified flesh), learned how to do a job resume and get gainfully employed, in my 20 years witnessed more success. Sure, many men and women chose to remain homeless, lost and remained inside their box and still continue praying for them today.
But we focused and encouraged the men and women who took the positive step in their lives, chose Jesus over drugs, God Almighty's provisions, feeling like a contributor instead of a liability to our society, most ended up following Jesus and are serving Him in the church today.
If we are going to reach out to the homeless, one at a time, then nothing beats live testimony, loving and treating these men and women as human beings in alignment with the Gospels.