Food and essentials are one thing, and it's true, in some cases, people asking may be needing money for items other than substances. But for me, it's a numbers game. Homelessness and home insecurity are enormous problems that are much broader than the population you see living on the streets. Those completely unsheltered folks tend to have deeper issues going on. A lot of it is mental illness, a lot of it is substance abuse. Money is very unlikely to help them. Again, not in every case. But certainly, in an uncomfortable majority.

>What if no one gave money and the person became desperate and tried to steal it from the store and got shot by a store owner or police instead? These scenarios are just as likely and also result in death.

I'm sorry, I just don't think this is true at all and greatly diminishes the number of people who OD on the street. There are a lot of resources available in the way of basic needs and homeless people know this. An addict will not spend money on food they know they can get from a public kitchen or food pantry. 100% of it goes to substances.

I understand that the donation is meant to be unconditional and non judgemental, but there is so much more benefit and reach in giving this money to good programs, for resources and even in support of the initiatives you mentioned. It goes so much farther and reduces the chance of harm. If you really want to give to an individual, consider care packages or some other gift as opposed to straight cash.