Social Stigma

• There are almost as many reasons for being homeless as there are homeless people. Newly minted transients may be just like the neighbors next door who are simply temporarily down on their luck. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who have been living on the streets for years and suffer from some form of mental illness. At any rate, many people aren't able to differentiate between the two, and they are treated with equal contempt, thus making it harder to get a helping hand. The fact of the matter is, all deserve to be helped, but many find it hard to obtain it.
  
  

Crime

• In some ways, homelessness breeds crime. Granted, not every homeless person is a criminal; far from it. However, some do resort to petty theft and robbery. There's also the issue of more minor crimes, such as vagrancy, loitering and in some jurisdictions, the act of panhandling itself. In fact, a 2002 Calgary study on homelessness found that 77 percent of the homeless had been jailed at some point in their lives.
  
  

Legislation

• In the 1970s and 1980s, homelessness grew exponentially. One reason is that housing and rent costs grew faster than income. Over time, it became too much of an issue for the government to ignore and the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was passed in 1987. Essentially, it was the creation of a committee that at first simply studied homelessness figures. Over time, they also established other agencies to help their cause, such as the Healthcare for the Homeless Program.
  
  

Health Care

• Homeless persons often suffer from a variety of ailments due to the fact that they don't have the resources for even over-the-counter health care. In the worst cases, mental illness can set in if the person is a chronic drug user. For this reason, a good portion of the federal grants and funding for homeless programs are used for medical services above anything else.