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I work in a homeless shelter, I know pretty much every homeless guy in town, most of them by name. They come in all types, some of them are honest guys who just hit some bad luck, you don't really see them panhandle, they just either hang out watching TV at the shelter all day, or use our counsellors to help them find jobs and affordable housing. Some of those guys do end up falling prey to the booze though.
Booze and drugs is what started the problem for some of them, they lost their jobs and families because of it, and couldn't/didn't want to get help. We have all kinds of addiction treatment programs, but most of them just aren't interested, kicking an addiction is hard, and you have to really want it.
We get a lot of recent immigrants too, they're usually the nicest guys of the bunch, I'm guessing they come from someplace worse than a homeless shelter and are just happy to be in a more developed country, they spend most of their time learning English and then seeking work.
The most disturbing trend I've seen recently is a big jump in teenagers coming in for meals, they seem pretty evenly split between junkies (who look, well, like junkies), and drug dealers (judging from their cellphones and clothes that I can't afford).
(It should be noted here that I have 'Carte Blanche' treatment from most panhandlers, instead of being asked for change, I get asked 'Hey Chef! What's for dinner?')
I pity the drunks and crackheads, but I won't give them money, I know it won't go to food. When I smoked, I'd usually give up a cigarette, unless I was running low. Sometimes I'll snag a handful of chocolate bars from the shelter and give those up instead of change, it's not money for Listerine, but it usually goes over well.
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