Having spent a couple years being homeless off and on, this resonates with me.

During my homeless days I had a laptop for a while. I would do web programming for various online clients on it, and when that got stolen I would work from a local college forging student ids to use library computers.

I made enough for fast food dollar menus, and to keep a little bit of gas in a somewhat-running car I bought for $100.

The bare minimum to keep myself distracted and fed was all I did even though so much more was possible. I told myself I liked the freedom, but in truth I was just too scared and had too low of self esteem to take on a more comfortable lifestyle.

Even when I found a home I picked a ghetto camper in the woods, and took only enough gigs to pay bills. I would make a couple grand on a programming/consulting contract, live on it till it ran out, then take on a new gig.

It took a lot of the right people investing in me over and over, and being patient, before I started to decide that I deserved more, that I wanted more. That it was worth working hard for.

It takes more than just teaching marketable skills to get someone off the streets. It takes them seeing themselves as worthy to do more with their lives. At the end of the day, they have to make that choice to change, and triggering that is going to be different for everyone.

I am sure teaching this man to code was huge for his self-worth, but there are a lot of deeper emotional issues why he is there that are probably going to take a lot of time and patience to uncover one step at a time.

Is there an element of exploitation here from the media? It looks like Leo was on the Today show. I recall the homeless guy with a "radio voice" also got the same treatment, and ultimately, they both weren't able to normalize back into society.

The idea that homelessness is just a financial problem and that if we come up with a ad-impression friendly narrative, then we can just solve it via a little fame and a little elbow grease is crazy. I guess the system got what it wanted: the Today show got its feel good story for overfed housewives and Today show advertisers got the eyeballs they wanted. Larger, more important, narratives were conveniently ignored.

Meanwhile, the larger narrative on how the US's private healthcare system means huge barriers to entry and especially for mental health issues, gets swept under the rug. Leo doesn't want a bank account for non-rational reasons. A little money and fame aren't going to change that. The whole article seems to skirt around the obvious mental health issues here. Its just incredible we can just pretend they don't exist and come up with ham-handed rationalizations on why Leo doesn't want a bank account. Yeah, its because he's mentally ill and is unable to functional in a normal way.

This is a great article to elucidate the complexities of homelessness.

Despite having intelligence and a talent, resulting in an income sufficient to 'get started' on the social ladder and rejoin mainstream society, the prospect is very daunting to Leo.

Even when given access to support and then a 'deadline' to push him (and being accompanied to a bank to deposit the money), it gets too much and he backs out.

Homeless people are not just hopeless drunks or weirdos. They often have an array of complex and intractible fears and issues and are incapable of functioning in mainstream society - even with large amounts of help.

I don't see any blame here - but it does sadden me that someone with so much clear and semi-realized potential can struggle so much. Consider for a moment how homless people less 'fortunate' [I can't help feeling that's the wrong word] must struggle every single day.

I've never thought through the 'teach a man to fish' in this way; life's not actually that simple.

Sadly, I don't see a solution. But I wish there was one.

I feel like there's a lot missing by saying Leo "for whatever reason" does not want a bank account. What reason? Surely he has one. Could they not ask him what his reason is?

They give a bunch of justification about humans being creatures of habit. Nonsense. I'm sure Leo has some notions about everything a bank account is going to entail, and it's intimidating, but I don't see why it couldn't be overcome and this article does nothing to explain that. If Patrick can teach him to code, he could teach him the logistics of setting up a bank account, finding an apartment, etc. etc.

Not to be insensitive, but any social worker could have told you all this. It's a pretty well established fact that the single biggest challenge in getting the long-term homeless back on their feet is not resources, it's repairing the damage done to their psyche.

For a greatly simplified explanation, consider that studies show positive emotions have a huge impact on psychological resilience, and homeless people do not have significant amounts of positive emotional reinforcement - though they do have plenty of adverse and stressful life experiences. Children who grow up in negative, impoverished, or homeless situations are found to become developmentally stunted, though some of the effects can be reversed in quality foster care.

> Patrick McConlogue, for all intents and purposes, did not "solve homelessness."

The result seems to echo the statements made by the project's biggest critics — not everyone wants to be saved. Fixing homelessness is a lot more complicated than everyone thinks.

If you try to help a homeless person, then you must also end all homelessness or accept that you're just a naive failure, apparently.

Pretty appalling in my eyes setting him an ultimatum. I would imagine Patrick would have the lawyers out if someone gave him an ultimatum that he would struggle to meet like that.

Homelessness is an intensely difficult problem to solve and won't be solved overnight by giving people a laptop and some books.

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> Patrick McConlogue, for all intents and purposes, did not "solve homelessness."

No, but he solved what Leo saw as the worst problem of the homeless man by being his friend. He's happy now.

Maybe he could receive the money in Bitcoin and spend it as he needs?

What a nice and insightful follow up though. Too often, we think our job is done and move on to the next keyboard warrior crusade.

This experience is reflection of how we don't always think about how people who are truly less fortunate can be tied to money as much as people who have more of it.

Everyone has the right to have the opportunity to work through their stuff. Not being able to have the basic necessities similarly can prevent you from pursuing one's inner growth, when the next place to eat or sleep is the real struggle.

It's a collective failure of our society in many ways, if we are quick to judge and trivialize anyone's experience of their existence without taking a minute to turn any stranger into a person by learning their story and participating in humanity by treating others with unconditional dignity.

There was good in this journey that should continue:

- The heart was in the right place. Giving in the right mindset is all one can do.

- Something positive came of this, namely someone has learned a new skill. We all feel more empowered when we can create the smallest new habit, let alone a new talent altogether.

- Like everyone deserves, they are working through their stuff.

I can't help but wonder if there's more like this that could be happening in other cities. Ultimately it will reach who is ready to find and take their next step, and it's not our job to create change, only help plant seeds and encourage the gardener to give it the water and sunshine it needs.

At the end of the day only we can learn our own lessons, and we have a choice in supporting and encouraging each other to do so. Sounds hokey to some, but once you have the right supportive circle in your life, there's nothing like it.

Hopefully the sharing of this experience doesn't turn people away from trying to improve it, no effort is perfect the first time.

There are few skills like programming that can turn someone's fortunes around this day in age, whether we are homeless, or not, and everyone deserves an opportunity to see what they can be, and become.

While I (sort of) understand someone in Leo's position having an aversion to walking in and opening a traditional bank account, in today's society we have very good solutions for the 1 in 12 people in the US that are "unbanked". The guy holding his money could just buy him a reloadable prepaid Visa/Mastercard and load the money on there. No banks, social security cards etc. That way he isn't walking around with $10K cash, and he can go to an ATM at night when no one is around if he is afraid of people.

There may be issues I'm not aware of. Perhaps Leo is a former drug addict and doesn't trust that he can stay clean (or alive for that matter) if he has a sudden influx of cash. Even that could be dealt with though, as his benefactor could simply transfer money to the card in small increments. It just seems that there are easy solutions to whatever issues exist, and that they haven't been explored (based solely on the information in this article).

I'm impressed by the article, as usually I expect articles on these issues to skew towards a complete misunderstanding of homelessness, often at best with a tone of exasperation.

From my experience around homeless or border-line homeless people, it's always more complicated than it seems.

And yet, simply being kind, even if just acknowledging their existence without making them feel judged, seems to me like a great start. Even if the underlying motivations might be misguided.

Here in The Netherlands we have some systems that help those who are homeless, or those who are in danger of becoming homeless. While there is plenty of criticism, and plenty goes wrong, there are also plenty of examples of people getting back on their feet because we have strong support structures. I really hope stories such as these will help to increase initiatives like that, or at least funding of existing (result-based) programs.

I feel there are some serious societal issues underlying the phenomenon, but something is better than nothing.

It's very strange how people approach this story. The entire mentality of "He's still homeless so obviously this was a waste of time." is dumb. Yes, there are multiple issues that need to be dealt with when you talk about re-integrating someone into society, but one of the biggest issues (perhaps second after any mental/emotional trauma) is the ability to earn money.

Leo has been taught a skill that has earned him money, and one where he can continue to develop this skill and make more money.

I'm really glad they did a follow-up on this. Seems much more insightful than just throwing an idea like "Let's teach them to code!" out there, trying it for 10 minutes, and then moving on to the next story. This does a much better job of illustrating how complex the issue is, and how just throwing money at it may not help much.

Reasons for poverty extend beyond lack of a marketable skill. News at 11.

"Give a man to fish."

This really shows how much humans are creatures of habit.

Bitcoin?

Patrick deserves a lot of credit for taking this problem on. Say whatever about naivete, but he at least fucking did something.

Most HN posters in the U.S. probably haven't experienced true financial stress. It's toxic. It makes you paranoid. Benzos don't help (and they're a terrible long-term solution anyway). You have a constant cold because your immune system is shot. And you never get used to it. It never gets better. The cognitive load is both intense and purely negative. There is no good in it. People who romanticize "poverty" are usually talking about something like grad student life (little money, little expense). Financial stress is as poisonous as ingesting paint thinner, and even a few weeks of it can permanently fuck someone up.

I think that most homeless people have severe mental illness that is not their fault (and that deserves compassion and treatment, not stigma or abuse). If they didn't have it beforehand, they'll have it after a few months of that life.

I think it's damn heroic that Leo was able to summon the cognitive clarity, after that kind of long-term damage, to build something. Unfortunately, that's not going to be enough to get him anywhere near the level of mental health that would enable him to hold down a typical white-collar job. That's a fucking long road.

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