Unfortunately I have first hand experience in seeing these homeless encampments because I work for a major utility company in a major Westcoast city and when we have to go into these homeless encampments to make necessary repairs we can't do our work or even investigate the utility breaks until we have a hazmat contractor clean up all the needles and human excrement first, it feels gross working in these places and I can't imagine how people live there, allowing people to live like that is not compassion but rather turning a blind eye to the greater issue of drug addiction and a injustice to the poor souls so spun out on drugs that they are fine with these living conditions, meanwhile homeless advocates call this freedom of choice and urban camping, don't get me wrong I'm all for freedom of choice but when it starts affecting the local community with crime and unsanitary conditions in poor neighborhoods where children have to walk through to get to school or their friends house that's where I draw the line. Furthermore there's a reason why I'm so passionate about this subject, I just lost a girlfriend who I was with for 10 years she was going to college for a degree she was passionate about and was interning at a firm related to her studies but she dropped out and quit the internship which I was fine with, I supported her in finding something that would interest her and make her happy, unfortunately about a year ago I realized she was self medicating with meth and I gave her a ultimatum of get mental help from a therapist to figure out why she was doing the drugs or it's over, she got help and was seeing someone twice a week and was doing well, she got a job again and was on the path to recovery but acouple months ago she relapsed and was acting strange, I asked her if she was using again and she denied it, even though I didn't believe her I felt I had to take her word for it and hope I was wrong and trust that she would come to me for help since we've been together for so long, my work involves working extremely long hours and one day after a 22hr shift I came home to her in bed with some guy smoking meth and I lost it, I kicked her out and told her to never call me or contact me ever again. I was and am heart broken, I've been in touch with her family and last I heard she was seen in one of those homeless encampments, as much as I try, I can't stop thinking about her or her well-being even though I don't want anything to do with her anymore, and I fear every day of the news that she overdosed and is gone, she has a family that cares about her greatly and misses her but with her addiction she blames everyone around her for her shortcomings, everyone in that situation is so spun out and hurting mentally that they they refuse help from the ones that care about them the most and fall deeper into their addiction. Don't be lured into thinking that you are helping them by providing housing and safe drug use facilities. I can't help but feel guilty for letting her live with me rent free and without responsibility to help her recovery, instead I was an enabling her and that's on me I should have been more aware of the situation and insisted on her having responsibility for paying for a portion of the rent and other bills and being a responsible person. That's something I'll have to live with and learn from. Long story short letting someone who is suffering from mental illness and drug addiction continue with that lifestyle isn't helping them, it's allowing them them to kill themselves slowly and painfully while feeling good about helping them.