Linda Kuppenbender knows bone-chilling cold.

The 57-year-old homeless woman lives in a decrepit 1990 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. Worn tires and a bent tie rod prevent Kuppenbender from driving the station wagon faster than 40 miles per hour. 

The car is her living room, kitchen, dining room and bedroom. When she has to go to the bathroom, she drives to one.

Nestled in her car, she crochets and reads for hours. Her dashboard serves as a table. A Bible sits next to some cigarette papers and a roller. On the seat beside her are bags of yarn, some finished crocheted dishrags which she sells for $3 each, a cup of tepid coffee and other supplies. A handicapped placard hangs from her rearview mirror.

Until recently, Kuppenbender had roommates, a male friend and his dog. At night, he stretched out in the front seat, while she lay in back. Two weeks ago, he left to find a warmer climate.

Kuppenbender doesnt want to move her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter live in Pendleton – but she dreads the cold. 

Last winter, the temperature got into the single digits, she said. I about froze to death.

Occasionally, shed wake to find the car blanketed with snow. Sleeping in the station wagon is like trying to get comfortable in a walk-in freezer. She sleeps fitfully and the cold seeps into her arthritic hips.

The colder it gets, she said, the less I sleep.

Her family would help if they could, she said, and they sometimes bring her warm drinks and food.

Cindy Anderson got to know Kuppenbender this spring when her church, First Assembly of God, started serving dinner to the homeless on Wednesday nights. The two formed a fast friendship.

Linda is a wonderful woman and has artistic talents that are undescribable, Anderson said. If we could get her off the streets and somewhere where she could use her talents, she could go places.

Anderson is referring to Kuppenbenders talent for drawing, painting and crocheting. A briefcase full of pen and pencil drawings is tucked into the back of the Oldsmobile – theres not much room to draw inside the Cruiser and her fingers get stiff in the cold.

The homeless woman offered advice to others forced to sleep in their car. Wear socks, she said, and cover your head completely with a blanket. Wear gloves to prevent frostbitten fingers. Curl up instead of stretching out. Kuppenbender, a seamstress before her eviction, crocheted an extra blanket especially to drape over her head. 

Even on the coldest nights, she said, alcohol isnt part of her warming strategy alcohol and drugs are not allowed in her car or her body. 

Tuesday night, Kuppenbender drove to Pendletons brand-new warming station near Washington School for a reprieve from the cold. She crocheted and showed the volunteers her intricate pen and pencil drawings she keeps in a briefcase. When she got sleepy, she lay down on a bed near the door. A volunteer fretted that Kuppenbender would be cold. 

Im not worried about being cold, she told the woman. Ive been sleeping in my car.

People arent always so considerate of Kuppenbender. Often, they dont acknowledge her at all.

Kuppenbender wishes others would see past her rumpled clothes and sleep-deprived appearance. Homeless people, she said, are grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. Theyre artists, cooks, seamstresses and mechanics.

We have joy. We have sadness, she said. We have pride and we have shame just like housebound people.

She doesnt wish her lifestyle on anyone.

I dont recommend it, Kuppenbender said. I dont recommend being homeless.