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As a social work professor who researches homeless services, I am often asked what can be done to help individuals who are living on the streets and have a mental illness. Witnessing someone who appears to be homeless talking to themselves, pacing, and acting strangely in public, can be a disturbing sight that invokes fear in the observer. Yet, it is this fear itself that may be hindering the effectiveness of our public response to addressing mental illness in homeless populations.