I am uncomfortable with charity that ends at handing over money and feeling generous.
Food and shelter matter because a hungry person cannot build a stable life. But if help stops there forever, it can leave the underlying dependence untouched.
The stronger version is food, shelter, education, a real skill, and a path to employment. Build an organization that trains people, hires them, and lets their value compound.
This is not an argument that people in crisis do not deserve direct cash. Sometimes money is the fastest and most respectful help. I do not know enough to turn my instinct into a universal rule.
My actual belief is simpler: judge charity by the agency it creates after the emergency is handled.
And if you want to help where self-advocacy is impossible, animal welfare deserves far more attention than it gets.