All of this is spoken from a US perspective, BTW.

I work with unhoused people. Really the only thing they have in common is that they don’t have a house. It’s hell on the streets and no one deserves to be there. Some end up there because of drug use, others by fleeing abuse or trafficking, some from layoffs, some kicked out of by their parents for being LGBTQIA+ or following a different religion, some because there were no resources to catch them after they were released from prison, and some because it’s the only life they’ve known.

Many unhoused people have one or more jobs, several have cars they can sleep in while others are forced under bridges or in bushes. Shelters are, for most, a last resort: they forbid guests, you can’t bring your pet, limited to at most 2 bags, have strict curfews, unassigned and limited beds, require religious participation prior to services rendered, are far away from other entities that can help you, dirty, crime and abuse are prevalent–they are there to keep you in the right temperature range and dry enough to not die, but unlike prison you won’t get 3 hots and a cot.

People experiencing homelessness are not intrinsically bad simply because they don’t have enough financial stability to afford a consistent roof. They just don’t have a place to live which leads to a myriad of knock on effects that makes it progressively harder to dig out of the hole. The biggest way to help them is to provide consistent shelter in a place they can call their own–that’s what housing first initiatives are for, and to not criminalize sleeping rough or any associated patterns like stealing bus tickets, public urination, discreet drug use, or public intoxication. Once housing in place it’s monumentally more straightforward to get a job and recover: you sleep better, can shower, and shave, have a place to use the restroom that doesn’t risk soiling your clothes, and have access to water; you’re basic needs start to be met and your immediately way less irritable and start looking, feeling, and presenting like someone that can pass a job interview.

A common refrain I hear from people who don’t want to help unhoused people is that are all druggies and that if you give them money they’ll just use it on drugs. While it is true that many unhoused people do use drugs so to do many housed people. Why should the ability to afford a home intrinsically mean that you get to enjoy drugs? Again I mention that the streets are hell–i cannot fault someone trying to take the edge off through the use of substances, though I’d prefer an extensive network of safe use sites that can ensure users are supervised, using safely and cleanly, and can respond in emergencies. Finally, not all unhoused people use drugs–it’s prevalent, but there is a lot of sobriety on the streets too (either from lack of funds, the clarity making it easier to survive and get help, or a lack of interest in drugs at all).

I hope that answers your question well enough. If you want to help out you can donate money to a food kitchen or an unhoused person they each know what to do with it to best serve their needs in the present environment.