Poverty is definitely a part of homelessness, but homelessness is a way bigger problem than poverty alone. It's not just poverty that creates persistent homelessness in America, it's often some combination of poverty, mental illness, addiction, and adaptation to the homeless lifestyle.

There was a story on here awhile ago about the last homeless man in Times Square--the city's social workers keep asking him day after day if he wants a place to sleep--they'll just give him one--and he always says no, he'd rather live on the street. That's an extreme case of adaptation, but other types of adaptation aren't necessarily conducive to living a normal life. One of my friends took in a homeless man for awhile and helped him look for work and the man ended up stealing from him, selling the loot, and living on the streets again. Apparently the guy goes back and forth between jail, the streets, and living with whoever will help him.