Just living in a place isn't really a good source.

Although you do make a decent point about safe housing. That's the reason why a lot of homeless people would actually prefer sleeping on the streets as opposed to shelters, which are often overcrowded, unsafe, dingy, and burdened with a lot of strict rules. The idea behind the Housing First model is to provide people with a single occupancy room, rather than cramping them together. This makes a bigger difference than you'd think.