Many (possibly most) homeless people pass for normal much of the time. It's the obviously highly homeless that get recognized as homeless and become the face of homelessness.
Perpetuating that stereotype as if it is accurate does a disservice to everyone.
I spent nearly six years homeless. I was routinely mistaken for a tourist and I sometimes got panhandled by other homeless people who would then ask me "How do you stay so clean??" when I would tell them "Sorry. I've got nothing to spare. I'm also homeless."
It was not my intent to cast people experiencing homelessness in a bad light, but I won't apologize for my words just because they weren't received in the spirit I intended them (I know you didn't ask for an apology, just throwing it out there). My point was that by definition homeless folks don't have equal access to facilities that non-homeless folk do, and have greater exposure to specific health risks. I didn't say this to be mean or hateful, I stated my current understanding of the situation many people find themselves in. Understanding a situation is the first step towards improving it. That requires talking about things that might make some people uncomfortable.
I strongly disagree with the manner in which jimbob45 was immediately shut down (and subsequently accused of casting homeless folks as "subhuman") for making a statement that quite frankly, wasn't wrong. Not only was his advice not wrong, but it could save lives if someone didn't know any better. It upsets me to see people get beat up over innocent comments that other people take offense to because they assume maliciousness. I saw zero maliciousness in his comment, and in fact it appeared as someone simply giving sound advice.
When your words are not received in the spirit you intended in a text only environment, working on finding the right words is typically the most effective approach to remedying the matter.
I wrote what I wrote previously because I'm on your side and a writer by trade. I still blog about homelessness at times. Searching for the right words to adequately convey meaning is something I spend a lot of time on and put a lot of work into.
When you brush aside the truth in order to be politically correct it only hurts those who are most vulnerable. Our sensibilities will survive, but in the meantime an absessed tooth can absolutely prove fatal to anyone not willing or able to seek treatment (guess who).
Being homeless comes with a lot of bad things, and one of those things is exposure to diseases that are passed upon skin contact. Pretending that homeless folks are just "normal folks like the rest of us" truly does them a disservice. They need help, and by pretending that they don't (or rather, by shunning such conversations out of "politeness") we are hurting them for the benefit of our own conscience. We are only being polite to our own sensibilities when we ignore the plight of homeless people, and pretend to put them on equal footing when they are truly nowhere close. Instead of taking personal offense to the statement I just made, think about them instead. It's become very tiring to see people "stand up" for others, when they are really only standing up to make themselves feel better about mostly ignoring the problem.