A San Francisco Treat

Paul and I had a really wonderful and full trip to San Francisco as you can see from the posts!  It is one of the most if not THE most dynamic cities I've ever been to.  There is endless culture, architecture, scenery, food, art and people to bewilder.  It is so difficult to pick out my favorites but here is the VERY shortlist: evening jazz on the harbor in Sausalito, the views from Angel Island, dinner at Delfina and tramping Golden Gate Park: notably the Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts and Crissy Field.  
Now this could be a real shame or a real gift for a myriad of reasons but the thing that affected me the most was the condition of the homeless population.  It is undeniable how extreme the "problem" is.  It is made only more obvious when you see a filthy googly eyed man begging a tourist carrying a Prada bag for spare change.  It disgusted me at first, enraged me after that and left me simply obsessed with finding out how, why and when.  Now I understand that there are circumstances to every situation and some people even choose this lifestyle so I don't claim to be holier than thou or say that there are not equal or far worse problems elsewhere or even in SF.  I only sniffed at the surface of this city so after careful thought and contemplation I know that I can't make any judgments.  This is simply an observation that I feel compelled to document.   
I read that the city of San Francisco spends around $200 million per year to shelter and feed this population of homeless.  At first upon hearing this number I was astounded that so many were still in such extremely addicted and miserable states.  I kept reading and found out that there were huge federal cuts in the early 1980's to affordable housing options and mental illness programs.  With just enough food and shelter to keep them alive and no alternatives, why would they ever change.  It seems there would be almost no chance of rehabilitation for the mentally ill and certainly not for the addicted.  Disease and crime prevail.    
One night after dinner on our way back to our hotel, I stopped when yet another man was asking me to donate a dollar in order to buy the "Street Sheet" which is a publication by the Coalition of Homeless about current conditions.  We locked eyes and his didn't seem as cloudy as previous requests so I stopped to have a little chat.  I immediately starting firing off rhetorical questions about how shocked and bewildered I was by what I'd seen.  I turned my head slightly to see a crazed woman on the street corner flailing her arms and yelling at passers-by.  I said to this man "See look at that woman!  I mean look at her, she is out of control!".  He turned back to me and said "That's my wife".  He then told me how they used to live in Berkeley in a nice home with good jobs.  She'd found her way to the streets to join the inflicted.  He eventually followed to keep watch over her and admitted he had an alcohol addiction now himself.  He very well could have been telling me stories but after that night, I started looking at each "bum" differently.  I imagined them cleaned up, smiling and not talking wildly to themselves.  I also started seeing other folks who looked inebriated but still had some weight and normal color to their face.  I imagined they'd just began on that fateful road due to a psychotic break, a loss or an addiction that was waiting to take control of their mind.  
I'm not sure what this post is supposed to accomplish except that what I've described moved me.  It is such a complex issue (involving much more than the street corner) but so easily forgotten.  And this shouldn't cloud your dreams of visiting San Francisco.  So much of it is FANTASTIC and fulfilling.  It is a journey worth taking.  Thanks for listening if you made it this far!!  Cheers