>> But riddle me this: what do you do when someone on BI has a financial emergency or, as will happen with some regularity, just flat-out blows all their money and now can't afford rent and/or food? <<

What do we do today when someone with a job has a financial emergency or just flat-out blows all their money and now can't afford rent and/or food? You can't quit your job and instantly qualify for food stamps and you certainly can't instantly qualify for subsidizing housing -- in a lot of places it takes a decade or more to get public housing or a voucher.