What would you do?

[carelesschucca]

I've just seen a good guy that I worked with about 15/20years ago what should really be a nice situation was ruined by the fact he's now homeless a complete mess and begging on the street. I tried offering him food and money and smokes but he wouldn't accept. Is there anything I can really do?

What made me feel worse was when I met him I was adsorbed with what I want for my birthday and had a rucksack full of food...

Invite him round for dinner. Make sure he leaves afterwards though.
He'll have a night of plenty to eat and plenty of warmth. That's all homeless people can wish for.

[TamSV]

Having tried to help a couple of friends with addiction issues, I've realised that you can't do very much practically for them until they decide to do something for themselves.

If he won't accept charity then some attention and kind words is where I would leave it if you're likely to see him again.

I'm not saying addiction is necessarily this guys problem, but something chaotic is happening in his life. I'd want to know a lot more about what that is before I invited it into my home.

[Jayneflakes]

An ex of mine was homeless for a while and this was direct result of being released from mental hospital and being a drug addict. As Tam said, sometimes there is nothing that you can do for someone because the systems are not in place to help them as you would like.

You need to be very careful because although he was a lovely guy twenty years ago, if he is now a heroin addict, the need to be well and not dope sick will drive him to serious breaches of trust. I know because this is how my ex was. Not all homeless people are addicts, but many are and they really suffer. The only thing that you can do is maybe take him to the council crisis team and try to get him into a shelter or halfway house. There are systems in place to help homeless people,but they are slow, often over worked and difficult to get into see.

Sorry to paint such a bleak view of homeless people, but experience has taught me to be careful, especially with those begging. Have a look here for more information and advice.

[carelesschucca]

Chances are Danny will be an addict, he's from The Calton, had a terrible home life but always seemed to strive to do his best in a bad situation. The guys from work used to go back there after a shift and the house was a mess, things had been getting to him when I last saw him just after I moved jobs.

I'm going to head back up on my lunchbreak and see if he's still there...

Thanks for the link Jayne I'll have a wee look the now.

Not what I would normally suggest, but you may well find that your local church has facilities in place to help, if you see him again it may well be advisable to give him details of the local Christian shelter.

Marks to you for offering the range, incl money.
It does sound like his reaction was one of pride but in reality, whatever food or money you gave him would only help for a relatively short period so your efforts were unlikely to turn his life around.
A friend such as yourself may help him to ask for long term help tho, so if you do see him again, I'd have thought keeping up the communication would be a good thing. He might react badly and disappear off the face of the earth (again) but you would know you've done the right thing.

Another reminder that a life can turn around very easily.

[kaivalagi]

I'd say give him some of your attention, get him a cuppa and sit with him and find out how he's gotten into this predicament...then decide what might be best for him and see if you can get him into help (if he wants to by then). He might just need some socialising to open up, god knows how long he's been out on the street and been ignored by pretty much everyone!

[ChrisCurvyS]

Having a close family member who's an addict and knowing a few others, it usually is the case that there's very little you can do until they themselves decide to change, which can happen by chance as much as anything.

I've known someone not stop drinking through near-terminal illness, losing his job, wife and kids, despite every form of help being thrown at him. But one random event years later and he's been sober now for almost eight years. The mind is a complicated thing.

[BanannaMan]

Buy him some heroin or crack. That way you won't have to worry he's going to spend it on something useless like food.