Ending Chronic Homelessness

[tomh009]

Car or shelter? Pros and cons for each (most cars have no toilet, sink or food--or heat in the winter).

I suppose there are different kinds of shelters, and something like basically having a private apartment would certainly be better than a car. But with a car you have a permanent, relatively secure place to store your belongings (even if limited), relative privacy, the ability to live on your own schedule (no check in/out times), peace of mind knowing have a space to sleep, etc. Toilets, showers, and food are still accessible enough for that tradeoff to be worth it IMO, especially since having a functional car implies a baseline level of income or savings.

Anyways, my point about the grouping of sleeping in the streets with living in a car being odd is that it seems like those are completely different demographics with different reasons for being where they are, different needs, and different living conditions.

Yes, I would agree with the difference in demographics. Certainly, I could see that people sleeping in their cars would be much more likely to actually be employed. Doing that would be quite challenging if you are sleeping in a doorway or in an encampment.