I see a lot of posts here assuming this guy sold his shoes for booze. While I agree the homeless are not the saints that the Libs portray them to be, and that there are grifters out there, I think posters are jumping to the wrong conclusions. Not every homeless person is out looking to sell everything for booze and drugs. Unless they are mentally ill, most are not going to wander around shoeless in the cold to get booze. This man likely either had them stolen or is mentally ill and left them somewhere. Situations like this point out the frustrating, heartbreaking problem of homelessness. Once you separate out the grifters and people who are going to use what you give them to buy booze or drugs, you have a very vulnerable population who simply cannot put together what it takes to live a basic life — like shelter and clothing. You have men like this literally walking around with no shoes. The answer is not not more money but on the other hand, these people are not all con artists and drunks.
Some get carted to jail for vagrancy, though that’s less common today. Some might appreciate being steered to a church. It takes all sorts to make an underworld.