Homeless and addiction

Well, I'm back. After clearing up my flat and trying to make it look like home again was a real bummer as nothing looks the same and where you had things there are empty place but never mind. Anyway I was talking to some people who said most addicts leave home because of their addiction which in some cases this is true but not all. Some people become homeless and then through mixing with the wrong crowds become addicts. Which does lead to long term homelessness. How do we stop this from happening is the question? Most people think that by just sticking them in rehabs and giving them a little support afterwards is the answer but its not the b all and end all. The problem with addiction is it's never ending. It's just like being an alcoholic, one drink and all the good work and efforts put into to fighting the addiction goes up in smoke. The problem is keeping someone off drugs and the only way I see to do that is teaching them the value of themselves because most addicts and alcoholics lose their real worth after a while and think they are worthless. So this is where I feel that learning and skills training comes into it's own. It's one of the long term solutions but not the only one. The other I think is once certain goals are achieved a way forward must be found to help people keep them. As I said addiction is only a small part of the homeless issue.