Should we feed the homeless?

I was just asked a question by a friend. He said: "I was told that feeding the homeless is enabling them and that it is better to direct them to programs like the Salvation Army. What do you think about that?"
Hmm. What DO I think about that? I ask myself often if what I seek to do with the homeless is actually enabling their lifestyle. I ask myself if my efforts are in vain and they will continue just the way they are no matter what I do or say. But then I look at Jesus. When Jesus fed the 5,000, He didn't say: "Stupid people! Why didn't they think to bring food? We need to teach them to plan better!" No. He fed them. He fed them and continued to teach them because the important thing was not that they had good life skills. It was that they knew Him, that they were enabled to hear what He had to say to them, whether they planned poorly or not.
In my two and a half years working with the homeless, I have met all types of people: addicts, mentally ill, people caught in the perpetual cycle of poverty. Many, many, many of these people would never check in to the Salvation Army or the Mission. Some had families they wouldn't want to leave behind. Some were too addicted to their substance of choice to detox before entering a program. Some were too much of a wanderer to be "trapped" in one place for a year or more. Some had pets that were like family to them and they would have had to give up those pets to enter the program. Some were so deep into their mental illness that there is no way they would be able to make a positive choice for their future without a great deal of help. They would not walk into a place like the Salvation Army or the Mission with a desire to get their lives together! Some of them were not even able to tell reality from fiction, but they knew they were hungry. And they knew they were cold. And they recognized when people loved them as individuals.
When I was still at Church in the Park, I met a young woman I will call May. May was probably in her early twenties. She came nearly every week and sat near the back, usually alone. One day, as I was walking around handing out name tags, I greeted her by name and then asked her if I could give her a hug. The look on her face was priceless and I have never forgotten it. I will bet that to her, that hug meant more than any of the food or clothes she got that day.
When someone doesn't believe they are worth anything, why would they bother to check themselves into a program? If they have no hope for the future, whether because they were taught to believe they are worthless, or life is meaningless, or because they have a mental illness that robs them of any joy they might otherwise have felt, they will not take the steps to better their future.
I went to Beard Brook Park and now I go to West Side Park, not because people need food, but because people need LOVE. They need to know the Source of that love. I don't hand out water because a bottle of ice water will change their lives. I hand out water because it will show them that I love them and in turn they will begin to wonder why I love them and through me, they will see Him. My goal is not to put their lives back on track. My goal is to lead them to the One who can put their hearts back together. That is why I go, and feed and clothe and love.