A while back I posted about mentoring the homeless. After doing so for six months with one particular person, I was unable to continue with him. Two more have done well. Follow uo to July 2006, the former is still in housing, having on and off problems with drinking, but still in housing, which for him is a miracle. That means he's cashing his own check, paying his rent and hasn't caused enough trouble to be evicted.
The causes - abandonment and neglect - are very, very profound. Perhaps it is not possible to overcome this because of the complexity of it. What does years of malnutrition, emotional neglect, alcohol or drug use starting at an early age, lack of education, and lack of love do to a child? These are the homeless - especially the street people who seemingly don't want to be helped.
Mentoring helps only a little bit. A team of mentors is actually needed for each person, but we know that is impossible. There are barely enough social workers with expertise in the issues of homelessness, other than obtaining benefits and services.
I've met so many wonderful people at New Hope Baptist Church, Center for Food Action, Salvation Army, Bergen County CAP, people who accept our hopeless cases for what they are. It's very sad to say nothing can be done, but in many cases, nothing can be done. The best we can do is not judge, treat them all like human beings that they are, and make sure all children, from ALL walks of life, are being nutured.