Open to ideas, suggestions
Liar. Like pgriz says, I don't even understand what you're so up in arms about. People made friendly suggestions, offered up useful ideas, and responded to you with nothing but respect. It's like if I asked somebody how to make a cheeseburger & went off the handle when they had the audacity to insinuate I might want to use a grill. Seriously, what the hell man?
Now, for the sake of the people you're going to be visiting, I'll give you my thoughts on the matter. I've never done street photography of the homeless but I do volunteer from time to time with a group called Project Live Love who, among other things, hits the streets of Atlanta with blankets gloves & handwarmers for the homeless on nights the shelters are full & they temperatures drop below 30. Some guidelines they've taught us when working with the homeless:
1) Never sneak up. Make your presence known very clearly, who you are, what you're doing, and show that you're not a threat. As you're walking up, like 20 feet away from their camp, start saying "Hi there, I was wondering if we could talk with you for a few minutes? My name's So&So and this is Whojewhatsits, and we're on a photojournalism assignment. I was wondering if you'd mind if I take a few photos with you and talk for a bit?" The key here is making sure that you're not surprising anybody. There are real jerks in the world, and the homeless have been conditioned to have to watch out for these people. It's important to show respect and make it clear you mean no harm.
2) Never travel alone. Nevermind the homeless people, the rapist or mugger around the corner might be waiting for ya with that nice shiny camera. You travel with a friend on this type of shoot. Not for protection, not as a weapon, and not as "back up", just as a friend. The people who you approach will feel less threatened and you'll be able to feel safer. Plus, while you're head is buried in a viewfinder, it's a good idea to have someone be aware of your surroundings.
3) You can't fix everything for anyone. With Project Live Love, our policy is to never give food or money to them, our goal is warmth only so they survive the night. For this reason, whether its the truth or not, you do not have your wallet with you, do not have any food, and don't have anything to give them but blankets gloves and socks. In the case of a photo-assignment, obviously your main goal there is for yourself, not for them, so if you want to choose something to bring along to donate, that's fine, but keep in mind that hand-outs offend some people, some people will see you have money and want it all, some people will become irate when you choose the wrong thing to share.
So to sum up what I learned with Project Live Love, the most important thing you need to do is treat people as human beings with respect and treat them as friends not zoo exhibits. Next, understand that you're walking into a dangerous situation and you should act accordingly. This does not mean you bring weapons of any type and certainly do not brandish them, it just means that you don't travel alone, and make sure you are aware of your surroundings at all times. Make sure your friend traveling with you follows rule #1 also. He is not your backup, he is another friend.
Using homeless people to learn how to talk to people, I hope that was a poorly worded sentiment. First, using people is wrong, especially when they have nothing. Second, many homeless people wound up that way because they have deep seeded emotional and mental problems that you are probably not trained to handle...so learning how to deal with people from them is sort of like learning to drive on a formula one car, learning to house train a lion, or picking up a 5D Mk II for your 8 year old to learn about taking pictures.
All that being said, when you feel you have a good grasp of the humanity involved in this project, and how to treat people and yourself with the respect deserved, I wish you luck on the project. But you might want to wait until you learn the self-control to stop telling strangers in online forums how much we suck for trying to help you.
