Maybe I miscommunicated my position. I’m not interested in withholding housing or support from anyone. As a previous recipient of such services, I will always advocate their value. I think we should be doing more, not less. I simply think the value of housing and mental health services is multiplied exponentially when they are combined.
Being homeless causes mental health and drug abuse, not the other way around.
You’re saying this with authority as if it’s some sort of universal truth when it is not. Speaking from experience having been homeless myself (2 years between Seattle and LA), both are true. Many people end up homeless because of how their mental illness has affected their ability to go about daily life. For these individuals specifically, housing alone is not a cure-all. If that person doesn’t receive some other kind of support, their life is still unmanageable for them.
To treat the general problem of homelessness, both types of people in this binary have to be considered.
I have been in a similar position and will vouch this is solid advice. Best to build some kind of rapport over time when computers/working in IT is involved. Some people know extremely little about it, and some people are quite afraid of what they don’t know. The best way to overcome that fear is understanding, simply having a decent trust for you as a person probably won’t suffice.
Edit just to say I nearly teared up reading your post, I really feel for your experience. Remembering tomorrow is a new day always helped me when things were worst. I bid you success in all you try.