I'm going to disagree, actually. If you give a homeless person charity and they use it to buy a bottle of cheap plonk that sends their liver to the graveyard, and them with it, you're not guilty of murder.
You ARE a dumb@ss if you give them money to be diverted to booze/pot/tobacco, though. If someone says they need work, and you want to help, you offer them a raking job in your front yard*. If they claim to be needy homeless, you give them a ride (in your camperless pickup truck bed) to the shelter. If they're hungry, you hand them a sandwich (and stay to watch them eat it) or give them a ride A/A (or just written directions) to the food bank.
Try this sometime: when you see a panhandler, ask them if they smoke. I have done this over a dozen times; 100% of them answered "Yes!" You have just met someone with plenty of money for food, who needs none from you. (I tell them, "There's your money for food", and drive off with a song in my heart, knowing I've figured out and solved their problem for them.)
Likewise, any panhandler with an animal has extra cash (for petfood, vet care, leash, bedding, animal baths, etc.), so needs none from you. Same if he has tattooes; those would have bought WEEKS of food in most cases, so if he had money for those, he needs nothing from you.
A shower, 50s-style man's haircut, and a complete (zero facial hair left, preferably repeated every other day til death) shave would open up a world of possibilities for these guys, such as employment.
*Word is most of them will get p****d off at that; they just wanted a handout so they could immediately buy recreational chemicals, NOT an opportunity for actual work.
Typical homeless guy (23 sec RT, one word profanity):
View: https://youtu.be/P1TQMJJpswc