I have worked in homelessness services over two decades and it has never been easy. Verbal assaults are commonplace and even physical assaults have been known to happen. So is property damage, threats, accusations, backstabbing and getting doxxed. Reading this would make most people considering entering this field to change their minds. The homeless population are indeed a complex group of people and no two days are the same. Mental illness and addiction is prevalent as is childhood trauma that has effected about 90% of every homeless person I have ever met. I’m not talking about the homeless though. I am talking about the ones that work professionally in the field.
I started in the 1990s and things were different then. There were still differences of opinions but we always found a way to work together. Politics were rarely discussed and were irrelevant to the job we had. Homelessness was manageable too. It was not in every park or sidewalk, It existed in concentrated areas and the homeless services system, while not perfect we at least made a genuine effort to help.