Help should be provided, but only in such fashion that people would rather do just about anything else than accept it; the penalty for accepting it, though, should be short-term rather misery rather than long-term harm or indebtedness, such that accepting the help will give people the impetus to ensure that won't need it again, rather than crippling them so they will.
My Parents had no extra money to help, so my Mother told my Father to take my Aunt to the Welfare Office to get some help. My Aunt would have no part of it, so my Father had to force her to go with him. She was embarrassed to have to go on the Dole, even though there was little else she could do. My Aunt received $10 a week for about six months until she found another job. To this day at age 89, she still thinks about how bad it made her feel to take that money. I still shake my head in disbelief when I see so many able bodied people with their hands out. I learned early on that nobody owes you a living. Now we have Politicians and a willing Electorate that feels much differently. Since the Safety Net has turned into a Hammock, shame has turned into entitlement with no end. Debit Cards replace Food Stamps because we don't want anyone to feel embarrassed. Now through Presidential Decree, Illegal Aliens can legally take the Jobs of Taxpaying Citizens while the Press goes after a Reporter who asked a question of Pharaoh Obama out of turn. It has to be a nightmare or an epidemic of Stupid.
At one time it was not seen as respectable to accept help. How we return to those days will be tough.