For easy reference, NIV:

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

Austin, TX has a huge homeless population. Nice weather and liberal government policies causes them to show up and stay.

There's a local organization that's setup a begging rotation and, every morning, buses people from various homeless camps to intersections so they can stand out with their "25¢ Please anything helps" cardboard signs. I don't think that's actually helping; just enabling them.

Normally, I just ignore them. Sure, I'll chat with one if they come up to me while I'm taking a walk, but don't go out of my way and don't give them money. The few I've talked with have had serious mental problems; no way those guys could hold down a job even if you handed them $50k to get started.

I feel like I should do something, but with the scale of the problem there's nothing I can really do that will help (and not bankrupt me). There's some woods 1000 feet from my house that has a few homeless living in it. 1000 feet beyond that there are usually 3-4 homeless guys sleeping on the Jack-In-The-Box lawn. Cross the frontage road behind Jack-In-The-Box and you'll find 2-3 guys sleeping under the highway overpass, and during the day there will be at least 4 guys at that highway intersection begging for money.  There's two more intersections between me and the offices that will always have 4 guys begging.

If I handed every beggar I see $5, it would probably cost me around $1000/month (rough math). I can't afford that and I'm not sure it would really help them anyways.

Join up with Mobile Loaves and Fishes and serve the homeless in that capacity.

I give to shelters, church, give time, etc.  I won't give to panhandlers.  I donate food, clothes etc.  and I don't give the about to expire panty items I don't eat.  We actually shop and then donate what we bought.  They are welcome to visit a shelter and be helped there.

I have one friend who keeps boxes of Fig Newtons or cheap breakfast bars in his car and he offers those when people say that they are hungry.

Give what you can, with a cheerful heart.  I think there's a verse somewhere about giving to those who ask.  Don't worry where they're spending the money, God will deal with that.  No, you can't help them all, but you can help the ones you can.  And the good things it does for your spirit are probably more the point of it anyway.

The guy who runs the Ozanam Inn homeless shelter here in New Orleans told me - practically begged the audience - NOT to give money to them.  He said it undoes the hard work done at the shelter.  He said if you feel that you must give to them, then give them food and water - and maybe point them in the direction of one of the homeless shelters that has programs to help them get back on their feet again.

 

I've thought of this as well.  

I'll give a few bucks and if they buy beer or what ever then so be it.

There's a few scammers, but the majority of the people I see begging have serious mental health issues and a real need. It's possible they're getting food somewhere else and just begging for beer money, but I've seen people hand them food/water and got a positive reaction from the homeless.

A lot of the "help the homeless" charities seem to be ignoring the root problem (mental health) and focusing on the short term symptoms. There's an assumption that if you give these guys a little help, food, clothes, a free apartment, etc., that they'll suddenly turn into doctors and lawyers, but that isn't it. If they were mentally healthy and just down-on-their-luck, they'd be pushing a broom somewhere.

I hate to say "the government should fix the problem", but I think a real solution would be a national chain of mental health facilities; group homes with counselors for the high-functioning, asylums for those with more serious issues, and probably lots of "in between" type facilities. Just setting up a few facilities by local government would just result in overcrowding, so it really needs to be national, and probably would cost billions.

There seems to be a homeless-involved murder every 18 months since I moved down here, so I feel the solution should involve trained experts.

The feds are broke; I'm not sure how many trillions they are in debt, but they don't have the money. The churches are broke; my little 150-person church is almost $20k behind so far this year (and getting propped up by a parent church who's finances are a mystery...there's some church officials who are going to have to explain that to God). People in the US don't give to charities in any significant numbers ("I gave at the tax office" attitude...which is a legit attitude given most of us are paying 40%+ in taxes).

I know my great grandmother used to run some kind of mental healthcare facility up in Oregon as late as the 1950s or 1960s. My understanding was it was a clean, positive, place that people actually liked to be at (vs the tied-to-a-bed asylum scenes in all the moves). Unfortunately that was long before my time.

I have come to the realization that a true person in need is at the shelter or church or any of the numerous charities. They are persons in need. I give to those organizations that help them..
The folks you see with the cardboard sign....I am homeless, hungry, Vietnam Vet blah blah blah....are Panhandlers.
Big difference between a Panhandler and a true person in need.

A very simplistic response: if you are worried that you are doing enough, obviously predicted on proper motivation, you are a sheep not a goat

That's salvation by works.

 

Certainly not!  Maybe is should elaborate.  There is not a specified amount of times that we need to find Christ in the needs of others.  Rather the attitude that we indeed find Christ in others that makes us the sheep amongst goats.  These "works" or as I'd prefer to call them, acts of charity, are not the means of salvation.  Rather, they are the outward expression of the internal change within ourselves.  

If one is worried that they are not doing enough and are concerned that they are missing Christ in the needy, they probably are doing enough already. I'm not saying they couldn't possibly do more, we all can, but their heart is already in the right place.

As mentioned here, it is a complex problem.  Some close friends run one of the homeless missions in Corpus.  Having helped them a bit, there is no great solutions.  These people tend to have a lot of issues.  


One thing I have thought of.  Go to the local thrift store and buy a grocery bag of shoes.  Maybe a couple of handfuls of socks.  Give them to one of the homeless people and as them to distribute.  Shoes tend to be a huge need in the populations.  Shouldn't cost more than $20.  Ditto for handing out cheap tarps before rainy season or blankets in winter.


 

Sometimes pointing them in the right direction is the best and only thing you can do. Share the gospel with them. If there are local organizations that provide care for the homeless, help them to get help from the organizations.

Helping everyone is beyond your abilities and God knows this. But you're required to help those He leads to you. The ones that you do help are the ones God put into your life for a reason.

My experience is most pan handlers do it as a practice.  Most are a scam or want money for nothing.

 All churches I have attended have ministries to help, which is better in my experience also.

 Let the Lord lead you and say a good word for the Lord as you give to people