Some would say that we teach the homeless a learned dependence, by providing a homeless shelter, but there are folks in this world who have always been, and always will be, NOT able to conform to societal expectations of self care.
Sometimes life is just hard, and, it can be bitterly cold on many nights.
I would invite those opposed to the shelter, to try to sleep in the snow; hungry, and without proper protective clothing, with nothing to look forward to in the morning, but more of the same. "Bleak" would be the word to describe it at best; frightening and life threatening at worst.
