Hundreds of homeless people have been flocking to Baltimore's winter shelter in recent weeks, forcing city officials to open three additional shelters to handle the crowds and use buses to transport individuals and families between sites for meals and showers.
The crush surprised city officials, who had expected to house no more than 364 homeless people a night at the temporary shelter. On some recent nights, however, about 150 more people than expected have shown up at the old schoolhouse that officials have retrofitted to house and feed hundreds of men, women and children.
The demand for emergency housing underlines the city's need for a shelter that would be open year-round, city officials say, and has raised concerns among advocates about what the city will do March 31, when the winter shelter is scheduled to close.
The city plans to open a permanent shelter and has dedicated $2 million in state money toward the project, but it is unclear whether that shelter will open before the end of March.
Mayor Sheila Dixon, who has spotlighted homeless issues, expressed uncertainty about the project when asked about it after her State of the City address last week.
"I can't speak to the next stages," Dixon said. "But we will not put people out on the street."
Recently, officials have focused on finding cots and blankets for the additional people who are arriving at the winter shelter, in the 1600 block of Guilford Ave.
Many of those seeking shelter say they have been forced out of housing by rising rents, the high cost of electricity and a loss of regular work, shelter officials said. Word of mouth about the 24-hour shelter and the services it offers have encouraged longtime homeless people to seek help, they said.
"People feel welcome here, and they are getting the help they need," said Diane Glauber, head of homeless services for the city.
On a recent tour of the shelter, which is being run by Jobs Housing Recovery, a nonprofit group that was hired by the city, men and women sat on cots with blankets and sleeping bags, some of them playing with babies, others reading the newspaper or listening to the radio. In one room, about a dozen women watched television or dozed in chairs or on the floor.
Even on crowded nights, Glauber said, no one has had to spend the night in a chair or on the floor, although some people might have to wait for an hour or more for a cot to become available.
The shelter has exceeded its capacity of 364 people a "couple of times," but fire officials have allowed more people to be at the shelter if they are waiting for a cot, she said.
City Fire Marshal Capt. Raymond O'Brocki, who has worked with the shelter, said he and other fire inspectors have reviewed safety measures at the shelter, which has fire sprinklers, and they are confident that it is safe for up to 364 sleeping occupants, in addition to others waiting in the auditorium.
"We have examined the entire shelter, and the way it is laid out, there is some wiggle room in terms of capacity," O'Brocki said. "The last thing we want is five people dead on the street due to exposure. But we also don't want people warehoused there like cordwood."
City officials would not release the addresses of the three additional shelters for fear that homeless people would show up at those sites. Glauber said there are two facilities for men and one for women. She said she wants to keep the Guilford Avenue site as the center of homeless activities so that caseworkers can better serve those in need.
"There is so much word of mouth going on," said Linda Trotter, director of homeless services for Jobs Housing Recovery and director of the winter shelter. "We hear a lot of, 'So-and-so told me that I could get a job here' and 'So-and-so told me I could get some shoes.' In general, we offer them stability."
Trotter, Glauber and others have worked long hours to come up with ways to deal with the overload of people. So far, they have been able to avoid an increase in expenses at the shelter, which has a budget of about $1 million, they said.
Staff members from other city departments have helped monitor the emergency sites, Glauber said, and donations and volunteers have helped to defray other costs.
Homeless people who were removed from shanties under the Jones Falls Expressway are still staying at an area hotel and have not contributed to crowding at the winter shelter, Glauber said. The city is still working with people to find permanent housing for them.
Jamela Watson, 21, has been living at the shelter since December. Her husband, mother and two small children also live there. Watson said it has become more crowded at the shelter in recent weeks but that it is still a good place to be. She said her husband's construction pay isn't enough for the family to afford housing.
"It's cool," Watson said. "We play with the kids and watch movies and read books."
Watson said she has been meeting with a caseworker to find permanent housing for her extended family but that it has been slow going.
Her predicament is not unusual, and that is one reason there is growing concern among advocates who worry that the shelter will still be relatively full March 31, when the city has promised to close the site as part of a legal agreement with neighbors who initially opposed the shelter's location near their homes.
"It's a tough situation," said Adam Schneider, community relations associate for Health Care for the Homeless. "We need to find places for these people to go. When March 31 comes, we can't put people back on the street."
lynn.anderson@baltsun.com