As a housing case manager in a homeless shelter, I work closely with homeless people every day. While there is an important place for the tools of social science in understanding the challenges they face, we should not distance ourselves emotionally from the homeless and treat them as stereotypes rather than as unique individuals. My main task in the shelter is to help the guests find their way through the almost impenetrable maze of government programs that are supposed to assist them in finding housing and work. Yet, about one‐third of homeless people struggle with some form of mental illness, which adds to the complexity of serving them in a shelter. Physical disabilities, substance abuse, and criminal backgrounds create additional obstacles for a large number of homeless people. Those problems are often caused or compounded by homelessness. The primary cause of homelessness does not lie in the people themselves but in the capitalist system. Homelessness will remain a chronic problem until we create a society and economy in which accountability is localized, and communities on the scale of neighborhoods are strengthened to the point that they can respond to problems humanely.

中文翻译：

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关于与无家可归者共事的思考

作为无家可归者住所的房屋案例管理者，我每天与无家可归者紧密合作。尽管社会科学工具在理解他们面临的挑战方面具有重要地位，但我们不应在情感上与无家可归者保持距离，而不应将其视为刻板印象而不是独特的个体。我在庇护所中的主要任务是帮助客人通过几乎难以理解的迷宫般的政府计划找到途径，这些计划本应协助他们寻找住房和工作。但是，约有三分之一的无家可归者因某种形式的精神疾病而挣扎，这增加了为他们提供庇护所的复杂性。肢体残疾，滥用毒品和犯罪背景为许多无家可归者带来了更多障碍。这些问题通常是由无家可归引起或加剧的。无家可归的主要原因不在于人民本身，而在于资本主义制度。无家可归将一直是一个长期的问题，直到我们创建一种将问责制本地化的社会和经济，并且在邻里规模上的社区得到加强，以至于他们可以人道地应对问题。