cheap affordable makeshift housing(unfinished)

The homeless can't help being mentally ill, so why not care for them in a small meager way by giving them relatively comfortable shelter. This may keep them off the streets from bothering people if you also gave them land to garden on.

Have it made of pvc pipe structure that has mylar and scrim layers. Mimicking "multi layer insulation". This protects from all radiated heat and some conducted heat from air spacing between layers because of scrim cloth(air is a poor conductor of heat). Also this structure would be cube shaped, and only be big enough to hold an adult standing up or laying down. Because of the small size of space, it would hold any body heat released by the person inside, and eliminate the need for heating. Of course you'd also be wearing warm clothes. But they could also warm up rocks in the fire and put them into the small structure. The multi-layer insulation may be stored inside of the pvc pipes for easy transport.

Then may put additional spray foam insulation inside of the structure for less conduction of heat.

Or tube shaped with mylar shingled over the dome.

This is a concept that we can test on the homeless and get funding for the cost of the materials by getting feedback on the functionality by the homeless living in them.

I have homeless living in the woods next to where I work and they live in the rain and the cold and the heat. The homeless are people who usually have mental problems and cannot hold a normal job because of the mental problems interfering with social life. Therefor they ask for money on the street or trick people into giving them money or pressure people into giving them money instead of working. And if they are addicted to drugs then they sometimes turn to crime to pay for the addictions. But they may still be an asset to us if they would test out new types of housing and then giving feedback on comfort level of the new structures. They'd have somewhere comfortable to dwell and we would get feedback. This wouldn't solve the problem of begging though, or crime.