People's perception of homeless people

On Saturday I had this idea of just asking people what they thought of homeless people. The answers where close to what I expected. Here are some of the comments made.
1. They are lazy good for nothing, this came from Ron a sixty two year old that then proceeded to tell me the in my day monologues.
2. Then I had a woman with two children that said she felt sorry for them but it was their own fault that they are that way they should be working not begging for a living.
3. I had a group of students from the states tell me they have the same problem but they do have soup kitchens which are open during the day. I proceeded to tell them that we do have day centers.
4.Then I met one irate man called Nobby who told me the government should do something to remove homeless people from the streets. I told him what the government had done so far and he replied F... Me you couldn't tell the difference could you. (his words not mine) I see them everyday of the week in the same place and I even knows their names. Some of them are a bit rowdy but basically nice fellas when they are not asking for money. After talking to many more and getting answers from most people I stopped. The impression I was left with is that most people assume that homeless people have become homeless through drugs and acholohol and that they themselves are to blame for their predicament. Only a few said they thought it was caused through something else. So my question is how do we break this myth that a large per cent of homeless people are druggies or alcoholics ?