Martin, I'm with you all the way. On another thread I described the guy, a bit younger than this one but in the same situation, who asked me to take his picture and then, when I gave him a copy a couple weeks later, cried and said, "That's the first time anybody's taken my picture in twenty years."
Showing the condition of unfortunates like this to the world is worthwhile. It used to be that these poor souls could be committed to an institution where they received food, comfort, and necessary medication. Then our government nannies decided that was wrong. Now outcasts like this wander the streets, sleep in doorways, have one meal a day in a soup kitchen if they're lucky, and panhandle. Because I made pictures of them and gave them copies I came to know several of them well enough to understand that most of them are mentally ill, and need to be taken in instead of cast out.
Here's an example. For years, summer and winter, this poor woman sat all day long somewhere on the streets of Colorado Springs just like this with her pack. Local merchants helped to feed her. What she needed was to be in a place where she was out of the elements and able to have regular meals. I can show you even worse examples, but this one always haunts me.