My boyfriend and I are having a debate about homeless people . He says me giving money to homeless people or beggars promotes alcohol or drug abuse , and that I ' d be better off giving to a charity . I say giving the money to someone first hand makes me feel better because I know in some way they are benefiting from it and if they choose to use it for drugs then that is no longer on me once it passes through my hands to them because there is always a possibility that they are using it for good . I ' m curious about this and I have also sat and talked to homeless people before who say that homelessness is a vicious cycle where you pass through shelters which some don ' t even go to out of pridefulness and being passed back and forth through jobs which they don ' t have the accommodations for i . e . transportation , good hygiene , lack of communication , etc . I am curious on other people ' s thoughts on this . Obviously I am not going to give money to someone who looks like or is currently twacked the fuck out , but sometimes you can ' t tell and I ' d rather give than not .