Homelessness is a problem that appears to be growing at an alarming rate.

And the more it grows, the more people speak out against it — though not from a place of empathy. They speak critically of the homeless. At best calling them lazy and drug addicted, at worst referring to them as a cancer that should be eradicated.

Sure, for many of these less fortunate, their situation resulted from a series of poor decisions. But for many others, it was little more than bad luck.

In most major cities, housing costs are skyrocketing. The cost of living as a whole is rising at a wildly disproportionate rate when compared to wages — which have remained relatively stagnant.

If you’ve had a decent-paying job over the years and managed to set aside some savings, good on you. For huge swaths of the population, this has never been an option.

Even for those who may have saved up a few thousand dollars, any significant life event could exhaust those funds in weeks. Few people living comfortably today have no idea just how close they might be to going broke. An injury, illness or job loss could quickly force many to choose between paying their bills or eating.

There are people currently living on the streets of my city who have jobs. They work whatever meagre jobs they can find, yet live in tents because they can’t find an affordable alternative.

And while living in a tent in the winter is far from ideal — at least they can afford to eat.

I don’t have a solution to the problem, and the way things seem to be going, I don’t see it improving. But this is not a black-and-white issue.

Yes, many homeless people turn to drugs and crime. And while I can’t entirely blame them for following that path, their choices and actions only dig themselves deeper into despair.

But for so many others who haven’t yet taken that darker road, they’re on the brink of collapse, grasping at any shred of hope they can muster. Trying desperately to return to the life they only recently lost. One that many of us currently live, oblivious to how quickly things can change.

These are tough times for all of us. A little empathy can go a long way.