If all goes according to plan, one Annapolis police lieutenant might spend many of the coldest nights this winter driving a bus that will double as a roving homeless shelter.
Lt. Robert E. Beans, a police officer in Annapolis for three decades, says he knows winter is a desperate time for the homeless - particularly in a city with only one shelter, which is so overwhelmed that it turned away 1,100 people last year.
Starting next month, Beans plans to pick up homeless people who have been screened for drugs and alcohol by the Lighthouse Shelter and either drive them to a temporary shelter or house them overnight on the bus.
"It blows me away, this whole plan," said Capt. Paul Egan, corps officer of the Salvation Army in Annapolis.
Beans' private motor coach, which he uses to transport choirs and relatives, can comfortably carry 44 people, he said. The bus can provide heat all night and contains kitchen facilities, a bathroom and a VCR, Beans said.
"No one wanted a homeless shelter in their community," Beans said. "The bus is mobile, so we'll be able to park at different locations."
Ideally, Beans would use the bus to transport homeless people turned away by Lighthouse to churches that have agreed to temporarily house them. But if accommodations can't be found, Beans says, he will let people sleep on the bus.
As for where the bus will park, Beans says he is talking to several businesses. Egan says parking at the Salvation Army's Hilltop Lane facility is a possibility.
Lighthouse, the city's only homeless shelter - and one of two emergency shelters in Anne Arundel County - can house 20 people, said Toni Graff, executive director of Annapolis Area Ministries, which runs the shelter. It also has two apartments for homeless families.
Lighthouse hasn't had an empty bed in five years, Graff said.
"This is a very serious problem, and it's getting worse," she said. "We're all struggling with the economy, and even more people are going to be losing their places of residence."
Sun staff writer Amanda J. Crawford contributed to this article.