--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think anybody's had the…" description: "\"I don't think anybody's had the confidence that we'd ever be able to make a dent in homelessness. We've just come to accept that we manage homelessness..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/john-carlos-frey-67700_able_i-don-t-think-anybody-s-had-the-confiden_749493.jpg" --- # I don't think anybody's had the confidence that we'd ever… ![“I don't think anybody's had the confidence that we'd ever be able to make a dent in homelessness. We've just come to accept that we manage homelessness, that we try to make it less bad, but we never make it better.” quote by John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/john-carlos-frey-67700_able_i-don-t-think-anybody-s-had-the-confiden_749493.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/john-carlos-frey-67700_able_i-don-t-think-anybody-s-had-the-confiden_749493.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/john-carlos-frey-67700_able_i-don-t-think-anybody-s-had-the-confiden_749493.jpg) > “I don't think anybody's had the confidence that we'd ever be able to make a dent in homelessness. We've just come to accept that we manage homelessness, that we try to make it less bad, but we never make it better.” [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker argues that society has settled for merely mitigating homelessness rather than solving it, lacking confidence to achieve real change. **In simple terms:** We accept managing problems instead of fixing them. Key Takeaway Believe we can eradicate homelessness. Themes social policy optimism activism Mood determined critical Type motivational political When to use this quote - city council meetings - nonprofit strategy sessions - community advocacy campaigns Key Concepts systemic change public perception resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - What would it take to shift from management to eradication? - How can confidence be built in large‑scale social reform? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑seated attitudes and funding structures is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Dent Homelessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dent-homelessness-5833447/) [Homelessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homelessness/) [Homelessness Try](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homelessness-try-5833448/) [Homelessness Ve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homelessness-ve-4714541/) [Manage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manage/) [Manage Homelessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manage-homelessness-5833446/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [I believe that when Paul Martin cancelled affordable housing across this country it produced a dramatic rise in homelessness and deaths due to homelessness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-layton/i-believe-that-when-paul-martin-cancelled-affordable-housing-across/) [Jack Layton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-layton/) > [We needed to take a discrete population to give people the confidence that if we can end veterans' homelessness , we can attack chronic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos-frey/we-needed-to-take-a-discrete-population-to-give-people-the-confidence/) [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) > [City's effort to end homelessness among veterans is different than how things used to be in L.A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos-frey/city-s-effort-to-end-homelessness-among-veterans-is-different-than/) [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) > [We want to make it socially, morally, politically and religiously unacceptable to have substandard housing and homelessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millard-fuller/we-want-to-make-it-socially-morally-politically-and-religiously/) [Millard Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millard-fuller/) > [“My grandfather was a railroad brakeman, sixty years with the D&H. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-wheeler/we-have-an-obligation-at-the-local-level-to-do-everything-we-can-with/) [Ted Wheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-wheeler/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) ## More by John Carlos Frey > [City's effort to end homelessness among veterans is different than how things used to be in L.A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos-frey/city-s-effort-to-end-homelessness-among-veterans-is-different-than/) [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) > [Famously sunny Los Angeles has long been known as the homeless capital of America, from beachy communities like Santa Monica and Venice to Skid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos-frey/famously-sunny-los-angeles-has-long-been-known-as-the-homeless/) [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) > [We needed to take a discrete population to give people the confidence that if we can end veterans' homelessness , we can attack chronic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos-frey/we-needed-to-take-a-discrete-population-to-give-people-the-confidence/) [John Carlos Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) [Explore all 4 John Carlos Frey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos-frey/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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