Please don’t attack homeless people, you don’t know the path they’ve walked.
I was homeless myself for a few weeks, just before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
I’d been a nightmare and been discharged from hospital without a diagnosis (yet)
Me?
Good job, good family

It can happen to anyone of us and most of us are just an illness or a redundancy away from being homeless.
Yes, there are a few who do it “professionally”, but they’re a minority.
The people I met had mental health issues, substance abuse issues, family issues.
In their own hell.

They were good to me- the homeless people.
They looked out for me.
The people who abused me weren’t those with the same issues as me, but those who walked past us every day.
We were either invisible or a fair target for verbal and other types of abuse.

I was lucky.
I had a family who did their best to get me the help so needed.
They didn’t understand what was wrong, but I got the help I needed.
All of the people I left behind, I think about a lot.
Did they ever get the help they so badly needed, did they get off the streets?

So please, if you see a homeless person- don’t assume you know their story, don’t assume they are where they are through their own doing.
Most are not.
If you haven’t got anything nice to say, walk past.
If you can help at all, please do.
They’re just like us.
In Solidarity