this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
900 points (97.0% liked)

Comic Strips

21711 readers
2836 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] village604@adultswim.fan 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

The first comment wasn't saying that mental health care has to be provided alongside housing, they're saying that without it a significant portion of the homeless won't be getting all of the help they need. They're saying that homelessness isn't only an issue of available housing.

The second person misunderstood that to mean that housing the homeless is pointless. But ultimately they're arguing for the same thing.

One problem I see often in discussions of the homeless issue is that people refuse to acknowledge that there are two main demographics of homeless, and each has a very different approach that needs to be taken.

The first group is people who are temporarily down on their luck and just need a hand up. Like people who lost their job in a bad market. These are people that free housing will benefit the most.

The second group is the chronically homeless. They have an issue, whether it be mental illness, drugs, or both, that makes them incompatible with functioning in society. They need a lot more help than just a free apartment. In fact, that help is often an option for them free of charge, but they choose not to utilize it (frequently because it comes with the stipulation of no drugs).

But when discussing the homeless issue, if you claim that everything will be fixed with more housing, you're leaving out the people who need the most help.