Sometimes living with no retsrictions or demands is very attractive. Maybe a lot of those folks don't want those restrictions..
@berdie When I was really sick with Agent Orange infections while living in Denver,I would walk to the closest Manpower office on the days when I was able to work. Sucked at first,but once they get to know you and understand you are not an addict or a drunk and can be trusted,you get the good jobs like driving trucks.
I almost always got offered a permanent starting position by the end of the day,but had to turn them down because I had days I could work,and days I couldn't do anything. Jobs like Manpower are probably THE ideal way for someone homeless to get back on their feet IF they live in a big city. The people there don't care if you are homeless or not. All they care about is "can I send you out on a job and not lose the contract?". Show up on time and work hard,and you are golden. They will even hold the good jobs for you if they know you are coming,and those are the jobs that allow a potential employer to judge your attitude and mental state,and to consider you for a full-time job without going through the whole song and dance of filling out applications that are tossed when they see you have been out of work for a while. They already KNOW you have been out of work for a while and have already decided to hire you when they make the offer. No worries about not having a car,not having a telephone,etc,etc,etc. You have already showed up for work there on time several times,sober and wearing clean clothes with a good work attitude,and that is really all they care about.
I ended up with a machine shop job from working Manpower once I got semi-healthy again and could show up for work every day. I was initially hired as day labor to sweep floors,haul trash,and do anything else that needed to be done,but made it known I also knew how to run a milling machine and an engine lathe.
Anyhow,there was a couple that showed up for work at the local Manpower office pretty much every day. Clean clothes,clean body,and no obvious mental problems. Probably in their mid-20's,and renting a room in a boarding house somewhere. Both were well-spoken,seemed healthy,and never showed up drunk or high,so I asked them one day why they didn't just get regular full-time jobs and an actual apartment. They told me they liked the freedom of day labor. They could work every day if they wanted,and then take off for a week to hitch-hike or take a bus to a concert they wanted to go to in another state,and were free to just stay there if they wanted because they took everything they owned with them when they went.
Kind of an ideal lifestyle as long as you are young and healthy,but I told them "It's going to suck all the air out of your universe if you ever get injured or seriously ill because one day you are going to wake up and discover Manpower jobs are your ONLY option,and no longer a choice."
They were genuine hippies,not like the ones you see on tv,so I doubt that anything I said to them made any difference in the way they lived or thought.