Calgary SUN had an interesting "series" on a homeless fellow named
Josh. Its an interesting look into homelessness (albeit one person).
Also, and not trying to stir the pot or be a devil's advocate but I'm looking for a genuine answer. There is no mind that mental illness combined with addiction becomes a dangerous and detrimental lifestyle...however, there are a LOT of people (dare I say more than homeless) who deal with one or both of those conditions and seem to live somewhat functioning lives. I've known mentally handicap citizens who still work (albeit minimum wage jobs) and are able to "live" life. I also have known people who have been drug addicts and again...they still work and are able to "live."
So where do we draw the line? I'm going to put a strong guess that there are more people with mental illness and/or addiction problems working and with a home than homeless and jobless. There has to be another factor. Whether its laziness, the inability to accept change (though one could argue that its an irrelevant point since they would most likely of had to change to the street lifestyle at some point), family issues, history of abuse, etc. I know there are extremes like BBB's and flashpoint's example...however, and unfortunately, those are the minority of the stories out there.
I'm not trying to come across as arrogant or ignorant. In my defense, I've had the ability to do quite a bit with homelessness through work and have been able to witness it on many levels.