Scenario

"Harve" is a homeless man. Harve has recently lost his job and due to the lack of other job opportunities, the lack of affordable housing, the limited scale of housing assistance programs and the overall decline in social assistance, he has been forced to the streets of Toronto. Being homeless, his main concerns are where to sleep and what to eat. For food, Harve relies on food banks, soup kitchens, and grocery store dumpsters. While shelter and food are equally important to anybody, it seems Harve struggles are greater when it comes to finding a safe place to sleep.

Homeless shelters are indeed an option for Harve, however, he may not always be in the vicinity of a homeless shelter, and even if he is in the vicinity of a shelter there would not always be spaces available. Even if he is lucky enough to get a spot, the dehumanizing and potentially dangerous environment of the shelters leads him to stay no more than one night at a time.

Other options available to him include taking naps on public transport during the day. Buses and trains are dry, safe, and heated during winters however each ticket he buys costs him money that could be spent on food and most of the time he is kicked off at some point on the ride. Harve also sleeps on park or bus benches sometimes, the benefits of this is that a bench is a surface that is elevated from the ground however most benches are still exposed directly to the environment. Furthermore, Harve is often harrassed and chased off of such benches.

Harve has also slept in abandoned buildings and under overpasses from time to time. Abandoned buildings do not often attract attention from the authorities however they are generally dangerous as they attract traffic of other homeless. The areas under overpasses and bridges are usually dry and provide some protection from wind and other environmental threats. Such areas still remain quite cold during the winter months. Much like abandoned buildings, these areas also attract other homeless people making it potentially unsafe.

There are a few other options available to Harve such as public restrooms, vacant homes and apartments, train stations and bus stations, however such public areas receive heavy attention from the authorities making them bad choices for a night's sleep. Harve has found that it is best when he finds a private area that attracts minimum traffic of other homeless and the authorities. Once he finds a safe place, there is still the issue of being as comfortable as he can be with the resources he has. Harve occasionally has access to sleeping bags, old mattresses, pillows and blankets however such items are often stolen or they must be left behind as he travels to new locations. Ultimately, Harve's primary problem is finding a safe location to sleep, and providing himself some sort of comfort and protection against the environment.

http://www.homelesshandbook.0catch.com/sleep.html