Comic Strips

I'm not advocating for "rounding up" of anyone, even though that's happening in the comments here too.

What I am primarily advocating for is:

free & non-judgemental mental health support (incl. medication), free addiction recovery programs

I've spent some (short) time volunteering for homeless people, and from my limited interactions it seemed to me that at least some of them would be open to some kind of mental health/addiction support, but it was either humiliating or impossible for them to get it. And because of that, there were some people who "chose" to be on the streets in the same way as someone "chooses" to be depressed - there's no choice involved, it's a situation the society forces the individual in by not providing the required support.

My time volunteering was in a second-world country which didn't have any government-supported free mental health services. Like, at all. If you wanted mental health support, you had to pay for it, or get really lucky (there was one NGO offering a "lottery"-type support system, and even that was just for a couple therapy sessions) - the former is impossible for a homeless person even if they had a place to sleep, the latter is really humiliating and sketchy.

Back in russia there were in theory free mental health services, but it had a terrible catch-22: in order to enroll, you needed a permanent residence, and none of the homeless shelters provide that. And then if by some miracle you managed to get on, you'd have to pay for any medications that were required, which is pretty much a non-starter.

And even in countries which do provide mental health services for the homeless, there is often stigma and judgement associated with it. The medical professionals themselves might be kind and understanding (and even then not always so), but the bureaucratic procedures required to get there can be humiliating as hell.

All this means that if you're coming from a position of homelessness, which makes it really difficult to do anything already, getting to the help can be an insurmountable challenge, either physically or mentally.

Also, after you get help and a warm place to sleep, it can feel disorienting in many ways after the street. There needs to be a robust network for helping people get up their feet (with basic supplies like food and meds provided for free at least for some time), getting people back into their local communities, and helping them find a job. It doesn't have to be a 6-figure white collar one, but even entry-level jobs can be difficult to get for an ex-homeless person for many reasons (stigma around homelessness, lack of a resume, degradation of social skills, or some really basic shit like lack of appropriate clothing) - there needs to be help associated with that, like agreements with local workplaces and support during interviews/trial periods.

Just providing housing is a good first step but it's definitely not enough. Combining it with other help multiplies the effectiveness.