I want to give them money but since my childhood my parents pretty much told me that they are all either faking it or are too lazy to go to work for money. I mean, I guess they can go to work but not everyone gets accepted to work as easy as it sounds like.
One compromise I use is to give them food instead of money. I usually carry with me one of those mashed fruit packets (usually marketed for kids to take to school) in case I get hungry and if I come across someone asking for money I just give them that. Or ask them if they want something from the nearby convenience store/cafe/vending machine. That removes the argument of “they’ll just use it for drugs” that I hear and honestly believe is true to some people. Addiction is hard. Everyone has to eat, it’s always useful to get them food (especially if it’s non perishable)
I’ve seen some cafés where you can give extra money for a coffee or a snack to be given to a homeless person when they ask for it. It’s pretty nice and it rounds up the bill!