Homelessness is a well-known and growing issue in the world at large. It's one that has been a concern of mine for a while, since my own housing situation has been touch and go at times, for a while (ever since I lost my job and ran out of money).

Does crypto offer a real solution (or more) for solving this humanitarian crisis? What about Help the Homeless (HTH)? Whatever happened to that project? I certainly haven't seen mention of it for a while.

"Without the help from others, the homeless population will continue to grow, leaving many people, including children, with nothing, regardless of their story. This is not how life is supposed to be; we are here together, as one and we should help one another, the same as we help ourselves. Help The Homeless Worldwide asks that you come be a part of their amazing journey."
 — HTH Worldwide

Personally, I consider cryptocurrencies that aim to solve social and humanitarian proplems to be good investments for most people. It has some of the best leverage and advantages when you know what you are doing with it and why. For most of them, they are on a path to becoming a valuable asset class of their own, if only a great many more people would see the benefits and utility they have and adopt them en masse ... Sadly, I foresee that it will take a while before there's a real groundswell.

I have a few questions for you and they are these: If you have a way (or ways) of donating/investing a little (about one tenth) of your hard earned money for the benefit of others, what do you consider to be the best approach? What charity do you support? Are you willing to give of yourself and your energy to help others who find themselves in bad/difficult situations and cannot help themselves?

Whether it's for wealth, housing, food, clothes, the general cost of living, etc., the most important thing for most of the people out there is to change their everyday living, so that crypto (not fiat money) becomes a really effective and practical tool for their benefit. The key factor for it having utility is that they have to be able to spend it. Otherwise, they'll be stuck working low-paying minimum wage jobs and being exploited by an oppressive system (assuming they're even employed, since unemployment and poverty are contributing factors). Certainly, money won't buy happiness (particularly if it's acquired under appalling and exploitative conditions), but being broke and poor won't buy you anything (and we all know that money makes the world go round).

I know for a fact that there are a number of services (such as the Salvation Army) with the power (or at least the intent) to help people get right back on their feet and to restart their lives. I can go on about government agencies in charge of housing, social and human services, community social services and other organizations, but they're largely ineffectual and slow-moving (as is the nature of bureaucracy and government departments).

Those departments have got some degree of leverage to assist the people, by providing food, grants, unemployment insurance funds and low-cost (RDP) matchbox houses to make it at least bearable in the short term, but they won't necessarily last forever. One of the problems is the corruption and nepotism of people trying to take advantage of the system for their own gains, even though there are people in need. (Tender kickbacks are a thing.)

For a lot of people, homelessness looks like a pandemic or a kind of virus worse than Covid-19. Plus, a lot of them have the attitude that the afflicted people brought it on themselves, that they made poor choices or did something bad to end up in that situation. It's not fair to think that way, because a lot of the people have been mislead, used and abused without even knowing what was happening. It's too easy to think that those who have got themselves into such situations are lazy or stupid people with a lack of dedication to pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. How is someone supposed to do that when they can't even afford boots to begin with? Plus, a lot of homeless people suffer from mental health issues and engage in substance abuse (which really isn't surprising, given their circumstances). They're in no fit state to even begin helping themselves.

Certainly, people have been mislead and been victims of bad planning or agendas with the aim to take advantage of them, for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly made things worse, driving up unemployment and the prices of basic staple foods, putting yet more strain on people who were already struggling, compounding other existing situations. You don't need to be an economist to understand that the worst has not yet come and the number of homeless or destitute individuals keeps on growing.

It seems clear to me that the system is failing the people it's supposed to serve (which probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone). I get the feeling that many don't even know how to apply for benefits without sending supportive documents, and for a lot of cases, the agents in the respective departments that are meant to deal with them, don't do what they're supposed to and use the cases for personal gain, by assuming that applicants are just idiots to have sent their documents for proof, unaware of what is required for thier casse to exist and be properly dealt with.

I have read that shelters for the homeless, formed as non-profit organisations are now places for shady business, where going-on such as ID and record fraud as vehicles for illegal and unethical money generation occur. This obviously detracts from the intent and focus on the cause for which they have been built, protecting the people against homelessness and helping to clear the roadblocks of due process. It's beyond sad and appalling, but that seems to be the unfortunate the reality, unless I have been misled.

In such a world as ours, I don't see how homelessness (and its causes) will be effectively dealt with. I don't see how people will be helped out of it and given opportunity to go study or better themselves. Potential students miss out on education because their cases have been bungled up by some malicious person with the intent of diverting student benefits grant money into their own pockets or engaging in fraudulent donation with no basis.

It's an ongoing nightmare for many. They feel like they're being treated as sub-human or undeserving animals. Clearly, something has to be done to change/demolish the current system.

Housing, education, employment, food and security are just the basic needs for anyone in this world who wants to have a decent life, but we arevstill struggling out here. How can someone be proud to claim that we have built a great economy (or a great nation) when a portion of the population can’t even have the basics; roofs over their heads, adequate food and/or opportunities to study?

Sometimes, the system does work, even if only a little. It helps a lot to find a way through the struggle. To give an example, the stimulus check or economic impact payment (IP1, IP2 and IP3) throughout the US bailout has been helpful and many young people have started their journey as a beginner trader or investor, to build a lasting income system and not dependent on a job or salary working for some big corporate that has no respect for them as people.

There are certainly ideas and plans to eradicate the phenomena, but those who are supposed to apply the right thing went astray. When people are not guided through the right path, we will all bear the brunt and, unfortunately, the economy will follow.

"No person should be homeless if you have public structures and public policies that allow people to have homes, food, and lead a dignified life in the US. Unfortunately, homelessness statistics reveal that there is still a lot of work to be done.

"At the moment, there is a lot of talk about the social and geographic disparity, the leading causes of homelessness, the current trends, and the homeless assistance that is available in North America. However, before we can do any of this, it’s extremely helpful to know the exact scope of homelessness in the US."
 — Homelessness in the USA, 2021; OKGA; Accessed 2022-09-18

How Many Homeless People Are There in America?

Homelessness is not a new phenomenon in the USA or the world at large. It became a source of concern as early as the 19th century, when urbanisation projects began to expose those most vulnerable. However, keeping track of the rate of homelessness (at least in the USA) is only a recent process.

1. Approximately seventeen (17) people per ten thousand (10 000) experience homelessness each day, according to the HUD Exchange. (See the applicable link in the "resources" section below.) Perhaps this is not the best figure when looking at the bigger picture, since it gives an impression of being rather low. However, when you translate this into overall numbers, things begin to look vastly different.

2. The number of homeless people in the USA is estimated at 552 830, according to the Whitehouse. (See the OKGA link in the "resources" section below.)

With around half a million individuals living in a state of homelessness, things are not looking great. Still, on the bright side (at least in the USA), it is a small percentage compared to the overall population — which is over 327 million at last count.

I'm not going to reproduce the rest of that article's content here. You are free to read it for yourself, if you so choose to.

Thumbnail image: Photo of homeless people sleeping in Las Vegas parking lot during COVID-19 pandemic, copyright 2020 ABC 7 Eyewitness News