I wish it were this simple. Having witnessed two different relatives go through the cycle of homelessness, addiction, and other assorted legal and health probl

I wish it were this simple. Having witnessed two different relatives go through the cycle of homelessness, addiction, and other assorted legal and health problems I can only say that it isn't at all straightforward. I'm not saying that the homeless deserve to be homeless - but there is often a long history of many friends and family members attempting to help to no positive effect. The folks at "Hotel 22" have no lack of truly tragic stories, but the unfortunate truth is that only a subset of them can really be helped, at least helped in a way that we technocrats standing on the street corner with our touch-sensitive radio-linked supercomputers and $6 coffees can be comfortable with. More unfortunate is that those who can be helped look the same as those who can't (to "our" eyes), and including the latter in any blanket scheme to alleviate the suffering of the former can actually exacerbate it - see the history of public housing. I don't think there is any architecture that coders or startups can bring to help this problem overall. I would suggest private charity and learning to identify those who need and truly want help in your personal spheres to be a greater benefit than concocting a grand plan to save everyone.