Conventional wisdom holds that Colorado’s chronically homeless live on the streets by chance rather than choice; that cruel fate beyond their control upended their lives.
But plain old common sense tells us that, for many of them, that’s in fact not the case. Particularly the many who are in the throes of addiction, perhaps on the run from personal responsibilities or, often enough, from the law, simply have made the wrong choices in life.
With that realization comes practical wisdom — the kind that tells us we can’t truly help people whose misery is largely self-inflicted until we stop viewing them as victims. That’s when it becomes clear they need the proverbial hand up rather than a handout…