Space Blankets to the Rescue?

I don't know about where you live, but here in Minnesota the weather is deadly. On sub-zero days, I always wonder what the homeless are doing. Minneapolis doesn't have a huge lot of homeless, precisely because of the weather, but we have enough to constitute a real concern. What I'm wondering is, has anyone ever considered giving space blankets to the homeless. Some of them will still die of the cold, but it seems like a space blanket might keep some of them alive during a sub-zero night. Not that it takes sub-zero weather to kill; you can die in 30 F, if the circumstances stack up against you.

Has anyone ever tried this space blanket thing? Did it work? Was it a stupid idea?