Writer-in-Residence at a Homeless Shelter
That was a good article. After coming to US for college I decided to help in a soup kitchen on Saturdays for a while. Well it was more of a breakfast pancake and coffee kitchen but same idea.<p>It was eye opening how rampant mental disease is among the homeless. It seems addiction for many was a way to self-medicate and or just get away from the constant stress. One person I remember was a former community college professor and he would come regularly. He was calm, intelligent, well read, I forgot what he taught maybe history or literature. But then I also heard stories from people who were there longer to be careful, sometimes he would snap, see daemons and yell obscenities and so on.<p>Some people were always cheery and happy, that was surprising. Most were quiet, looked down just took the food and left. Some would come for seconds and would tell us they have a family, a child or someone else waiting for it.<p>Anyway the point was that it was a very good experience and taught me a few things. It definitely dispelled the often repeated myth how homeless people are just lazy and don&#x27;t know how to manage their money and so on. It is a pretty complex problem. I understand that a while back there used to be state mental institutions. Those closed down and states just let the homeless out onto the streets. Why don&#x27;t they open them again, was a budget issue?<p>There was talk about YC trying out basic income, wonder if there is any space there having a non-for-profit startup which provides a shelter like that with psychological help and counseling. If it is worth disrupting coffee making, or nutrition or taxi monopolies, maybe it is also worth seeing if there is something to be done for those who need help the most.