How to Help Someone Who Is Homeless (Without Making It Worse)

There's a man you pass every morning. You've thought about stopping a hundred times. You don't, because you don't know what to say, you're not sure money is the right thing, and you're a little afraid. This is for you.

Since 2014, teams from Love on Hamilton have gone out to the streets of this city every week. Not experts, just ordinary believers with coffee and time. Here's what we've learned, and it's simpler than you think.

Start with the person, not the problem

The single most painful thing about living on the street, people tell us again and again, is not the cold. It's being invisible. Hundreds of people a day look through you. So the most powerful thing you can give costs nothing: stop, make eye contact, say hello, and ask their name. Then use it.

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Matthew 25:40 (KJV)

Jesus didn't say for Me. He said unto Me. The person on the sidewalk is where He said we'd find Him.

What to say

• "Hi, I'm Daniel. What's your name?" Then: "How's your day going?" Ask it like you want to know, because you do.
• Listen more than you talk. Most people on the street are starved of conversation. Ten minutes of your attention is worth more than ten dollars.
• Ask what they actually need. Not what you assume. It might be socks, a phone charge, directions to a shelter, or just company.
• Offer to pray, and ask first. "Is there anything I could pray for you about?" Almost everyone says yes, and many cry. Pray briefly, in plain words, right there. (How, if you've never done it.)
• Don't preach, don't fix, don't lecture. You don't know their story. Earn the right to speak by showing up more than once.

What to give

People argue about cash. Here's our honest take: giving money isn't wrong, and Jesus never attached conditions to generosity (Give to him that asketh thee, Matthew 5:42). But some things help more reliably, especially in a Canadian winter:

• Socks. The most requested item on every street in the country. New, warm, in the package.
• Food you'd eat. A hot coffee and a sandwich handed over with a conversation. Or ask: "Can I grab you something from Tim's? What do you like?"
• Gift cards to a grocery store or coffee shop, in small amounts.
• Hand warmers, gloves, a toque, a blanket from November to March. A dollar-store rain poncho in the fall.
• A phone charge or a transit fare. Small, practical, and often the thing standing between them and an appointment.
• Your number, if you're willing to be a friend. This is the one that changes lives, and the one most people never give.

Keep a "blessing bag" in your car: socks, a granola bar, hand warmers, a bottle of water, a note with a Bible verse. Then you're never caught without something to hand over.

What not to do

• Don't take photos. Ever. They're a person, not content.
• Don't promise what you can't deliver. "I'll come back Thursday" means come back Thursday.
• Don't argue about how they'll spend the money. You give; what happens next is between them and God.
• Don't put yourself in danger. Go with someone, stay in public places, and if someone is in crisis or violent, call for help. Compassion and wisdom aren't opposites.
• Don't do it once and feel finished. One act of kindness is good. A relationship is what changes a life.

Why we do it

Because Jesus did. He touched lepers, ate with outcasts, and told a story about a Samaritan who stopped when the religious people crossed the road (Luke 10:30–37). Then He said Go, and do thou likewise. Because pure religion and undefiled before God is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (James 1:27). And because, over twelve years, we have watched addictions break, people come to faith, get housed, get baptised, and come back to serve on the same sidewalk where somebody once stopped for them.

Don't go alone

The best way to learn this is beside someone who's done it. In Hamilton, LoveonHamilton.com sends teams out every week; show up once and you'll never be scared of that corner again. Anywhere else, LoveonTheWorld.com can help you join or start a team. And if you've never thought of your own neighbourhood as a mission field, it already is.

Tomorrow morning, stop. Say hello. Ask his name. That's how it starts.