re: there just aren't any homeless people who are really smart.
I like your article, but I found this offensive.
Amongst the homeless people I know, many are, as Nick Taylor mentioned, ex-military or substance-addicted. We also see a lot of individuals suffering from disease whether mental or otherwise, many of whom became homeless initially because they couldn't afford both housing and medical care. Another thing I see a lot is kids who ran away from abusive households or were disowned or simply went away one day and were never looked for. Especially in my city, where the cost of living is very high, you also get a lot of homeless people who are simply victims of circumstances. For example, last year, the average social security cheque in our poorest district paid about $659/month whereas a SRO in the same area costs an average of $660. If all your savings are going towards rent alone, what's going to happen when a medical emergency comes up? Or if you're simply disabled or aging or chronically ill?
Not all us homeless/ex-homeless people are just really stupid. Ditto Kyojitsu: if you have 11 hours of spare time a day, why don't you come help some of us who are less privileged than you?