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How would a homeless person spend free cash? The answer may surprise you.

Fifty people experiencing homelessness were given $5,400 and told to spend it however they wanted. Here's what they did with the money.

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A study revealed what a homeless person actually spends their money on.

In 2018, 50 individuals in Vancouver who had become homeless in the past two years were selected to receive a lump sum equivalent to around $5,498 USD to do with whatever they wanted. No questions asked.

In addition to the cash, they received a year of coaching and workshops that could help with developing life skills, goal setting, self-affirmation and brainstorming strategies to gain more stability.

The gesture was part of a peer-reviewed PNAS study, which also included the research team separately surveying 1,100 people, asking them to guess how the recipients would spend their money.

The general prediction was that these individuals, if experiencing homelessness, would spend 81 percent more on “temptation goods” like alcohol, drugs or tobacco than if they were not.

A follow-up survey proved that prediction wrong.


A year later, the recipients reported having spent the money on food, clothes and rent, and had been able to save up for more stable housing.

homelessness, homeless programs

There is an infinite number of reasons why someone would need the money.

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Of course, the study is fairly small and does rely on self-reporting, in which facts can be skewed. Plus individuals had to have “nonsevere levels of substance use, alcohol use, and mental health symptoms” in order to qualify. But regardless, it shows the (unfounded) tendency society has to attribute some kind of character flaw—poor decision-making skills, addiction, laziness—as the core cause of someone dealing with homelessness, rather than simply a lack of money and resources.

The creators of the study argue that “traditional approaches,” which mainly focus on emergency services, healthcare and housing supports, only help prevent “more severe forms of homelessness.” They do not address the financial and psychological barriers incited through poverty. They added that other countries that have begun offering unconditional cash transfers to those with low income have seen improvement in their “physical health, psychological well-being, education and employment, and financial management.”

homeless

Around 582,000 Americans were experiencing homelessness in 2022.

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Rather than enabling vices, these cash transfers actually “reduce impulsivity” and help with responsible decision-making because they provide recipients the freedom to make their own decisions,” the study says. Finally, when given a large amount of money, rather than small monthly increments, people were “more likely to increase spending on durables, psychological well-being and female empowerment.”

All of these insights make for a compelling message. People struggling with homelessness have enough barriers to overcome. Let’s not let unnecessary mistrust be one of them. Both our policies and our own personal judgments need to adapt if we really want to address this huge issue. Compassion sometimes takes the form of cold, hard cash.

The last thing Dawn Miller remembers after coming down with a sudden splitting headache in her Florida condo was calling an ambulance.

Then, it all went dark.

“I must have passed out," she recalls of that terrifying night in 2014. "Because the next thing I remember was three weeks later, waking up in the hospital.” When she came to, confused and with part of her head shaved, Miller learned she'd had an aneurism. She was lucky to be alive.


However, that's about the same time it felt like Miller's luck ran out.

Despite working two jobs, the medical costs Miller accumulated in the hospital were too much for her to handle. Eventually, as a new PSA from the Robin Hood Foundation notes, she became homeless.With the money she had left, Miller left Florida for her hometown of New York, believing there'd be more services for struggling people like her in NYC than in the Sunshine State. It was there, standing in a crowded, overwhelming transit hub asking others for help, when the realities of homelessness really hit her.

“I was in shock,” she said. “Once I got here, standing with my suitcases in Port Authority, I felt like I could break down and cry.”

She lost everything ... well, almost everything.

Throughout her experience being homeless, the one thing Miller never let go of was her college diploma.

She'd gone back to school at the age of 42. She graduated from Pace University with a degree in communications. She knows what it means — and what it takes — to work hard and achieve your goals.

"I graduated with a 3.71 GPA," she says. "I did very well. I was very proud of myself. And every time I look at my degree, I have something to be proud of.”

In some ways, just holding on to the diploma reminded her that she's a fighter. And it helped her find a path to a better life.

Miller is part of a new series called "The Things They Carry," where she appears along with four other people who've experienced homelessness discussing an item they never let go of.

The video is by the Robin Hood Foundation, a poverty-fighting group based in New York City. A man named William held on to a pair of pants he wore every day on the streets. "I keep these jeans here to remind myself of where I come from," he said.

For Hector, it was a wallet his mother gave him years ago. "The wallet saved me," Hector says in the PSA, explaining how just remembering his mother stopped him from killing himself moments before he was about to do so. "I always keep it for myself."

Thanks to a few helping hands, things are looking up for Miller.

She discovered Urban Pathways, a program of Robin Hood's focused on fighting homelessness in New York. Now Miller has a part-time job and expects to be living in a new home in the Bronx, before Christmas.

She hasn't forgotten what it felt like that day in Port Authority, though — that devastating feeling like she'd lost it all. She hopes her story inspires others to see the world a little bit differently too.

“Keep an open mind and an open heart when you’re dealing with someone less fortunate," she says, noting homelessness can come out of nowhere. "It can hit anybody."

Watch Miller's heart-wrenching PSA, part of "The Things They Carry," below:

"This is my college degree. It means to me that I'm a fighter."Dawn is a formerly homeless New Yorker and was helped by a #RHFunded organization.Each week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will be sharing the story of a NYer who overcame homelessness. What’s it like to lose everything? What do you fight to keep? How do you choose? These are their stories. These are The Things They Carry. https://bit.ly/2gkhaFl

Posted by Robin Hood Foundation on Thursday, November 24, 2016

Average cost of a meal at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana in Italy — recently named the #1 restaurant in the world by World's 50 Best​? $234-$260.

Cooks prepare food at Refettorio Gastromotiva. Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press.

Average cost of a meal at Bottura's new pop-up restaurant near the Olympic Village in Rio? $0.

Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press.


The guest list, however, is even more exclusive: You have to be homeless to eat there.

Patrons wait to get into Refettorio Gastromotiva. Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press.

Bottura and his local partners have loaded the cafe — dubbed Refettorio Gastromotiva — with features absent from most soup kitchens: uniformed waiters, art on the walls, and five-star cuisine.

"This is a cultural project, not a charity," the chef told the Associated Press. "We want to rebuild the dignity of the people."

And the food source? Leftover ingredients from the Olympic Village.

Human beings waste lots of food — much of which is still edible, just simply left over. According to a Natural Resource Defense Council Report, as much as 40% of the food produced in the United States goes uneaten annually, up nearly 50% since the 1970s.

"The project is important since it deals with sustainable food and fighting waste, which is a global scale issue," Tania Braga, head of sustainability and legacy on the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, told Eater in early August.

Bottura has done this once before, and it's kind of become his thing.

Massimo Bottura. Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/Associated Press.

At last year's Expo Milano, Bottura salvaged 15 tons of food waste from the event to feed homeless residents, refugees, and other hungry people at a derelict theater, also outfitted to resemble a fancy restaurant.

The goal, he explained, is to draw attention to the issue of food waste, while simultaneously giving the restaurant's needy patrons the ability to dine in an atmosphere that honors their humanity.

The restaurant is slated to continue to operate when the cameras pack up and go home.

Refettorio Gastromotiva will have served 5,000 meals to homeless men and women in Rio by the time the Olympics end.

After the games, Bottura intends to transform the space — which his group has leased for 10 years — into a restaurant that serves a paying crowd for lunch and uses the proceeds to feed the homeless in the evenings.

And it's already a hit with the clientele.

As Valdimir Faria, a Rio resident who dined at Refettorio Gastromotiva during the Olympics, told the Associated Press, it's not just about the food:

"Just sitting here, treated with respect on an equal footing, makes me think I have a chance."

Jake Austin has been volunteering with the homeless in St. Louis, Missouri, for years. But he just recently had a huge epiphany.

Meet Jake. Photo by Shower to the People, used with permission


"Most of my life I've been volunteering in different capacities," he said. "One group was doing food and clothes, and I went down there to help out. They had a hygiene table that was in disarray. So I asked if I could take it over."

Austin started bringing in donations — soaps, shampoos, etc. — and handing them out to folks in need.

But one day, a man politely turned Austin and his donated soap down. And that's when he realized: Donated hygiene items don't do people any good unless they have a safe, comfortable place to use them.

"People will say, 'I have 10 blankets and a bag full of sandwiches, but I haven't showered in months,'" Austin told Upworthy.

For folks who are homeless, a shower can be a rare and sometimes life-changing luxury.

Photo via iStock.

A hot shower might not trump the need for basic things like food and shelter, but that's exactly what makes hygiene such an overlooked need for many people who are homeless.

The fact is, being able to maintain basic hygiene is an absolute must for anyone hoping to secure or hold down a job. It's also a huge factor in warding off disease and infections.

Plus, it's hard to deny the fact that you just feel better when you're clean.

That's why Austin wants to make it easier for people in his city to get clean using an incredible mobile shower truck.

It's like a food truck, but for showers! Photo by Shower to the People, used with permission.

The brilliant name for his new nonprofit? Shower to the People.

Jake bought an old truck off Craigslist for $5,000, and after a successful GoFundMe campaign and help from a bunch of really smart people, he retrofitted it to house two private shower stalls with sinks and mirrors.

The unit hooks up to fire hydrants and heats the water using an external generator, meaning the truck can travel and provide free, warm showers pretty much anywhere in the city.

Photo by Shower to the People, used with permission.

According to Austin, St. Louis has plenty of homeless shelters, but the showers are usually only open to official residents.

"Folks will save up what money they can find and try to get a gym membership. Beyond that they'll use public sinks, libraries, the river. Or they'll go into people's backyards to use the hose," he says.

The Shower to the People truck is an awesome, low-cost solution that offers more privacy, more convenience, better-kept facilities, and shower services for 60 people every day.

So far, Shower to the People and other programs like it are making a big difference.

Austin and his crew, in partnership with FOCUS North America, had the cameras rolling during their truck's first day on the streets, and the reactions said it all.

He recalled one powerful moment:

"A couple of weeks ago there was a girl that came up to the truck. She was kind of crabby. Upset. Rightly so, given her experience. She had kind of an attitude, but we were being as polite as possible. She wanted to shave her legs — we were trying to be efficient, but I said, 'Hey, take as much time as you need.' When she came out, she was glowing. It was such an amazing experience."

GIFs via Shower to the People/YouTube.

It's a little early to tell if increasing access to showers will directly lead to big turnarounds for the folks who participate, but helping them feel a little better is a good start.

Shower to the People isn't the first group to provide showers for folks who are living rough, either.

There are also programs like Lava Mae in San Francisco and Think Dignity in San Diego that offer similar services. And Austin wants to take his own version of a mobile shower unit into more cities soon too.

Austin says, "Our goal isn't just to have clean people on the streets. Our goal is to help get people off the streets."

A hot shower won't solve everything for people living in extreme poverty, but it can be a step in the right direction on the path to a better life.

Kudos to Jake Austin for finding a simple solution to an underserved problem. Let's hope more smart people will be following in his footsteps real soon.