On many occasions throughout my childhood I witnessed my dad giving money to people on the street. It is not because he had extra money to give away. He had a wife and four children to support, and a family business that was on the brink of collapse more than once. He did it because, as he once said, “That person needed the money more than I do.” 

Never overthink charity. Be quick to give. You will certainly hear advice to the contrary. Some will say that the people you are giving money to will use it to buy liquor or drugs. They’ll say that most people on the street are perfectly capable of getting a job. You will hear these people call the homeless all sort of disparaging names. Where this hostility comes from, I can’t speculate, nor can I relate.

My advice to you is to not to concern yourself with what someone might do with a small handout, or why they aren’t gainfully employed even though they appear at first sight to be perfectly capable of work. Discerning one’s situation is not that simple. All you have to know is that they are suffering. If your contribution can in any way ease their despair, even for a short time, it is worthwhile.

A person on the street does not want to be there. This is not how they saw their life going. To be on the street is a desperate and dangerous predicament and to me it does not matter how they got there. Maybe they weren’t born into an environment that offered the opportunities you have been afforded, and therefore have been at a disadvantage from the start. Maybe they have an affliction or an addiction they cannot overcome. Maybe their story is even more tragic.

Whatever circumstances brought about their homelessness, there are a few things of which you can be certain. You are lucky, they are not, and showing compassion is never the wrong choice. It is our duty.