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This late return of cold, winter weather has been unwelcomed news for the growing number of homeless people in Minnesota. Statewide the number of people seeking help from shelters and transitional housing was up five percent last year. The number turned away for lack of space was up as well. In St. Cloud, there is an acknowledged shortage of beds in town. But this winter the city's churches have provided warm spaces for a few more.

	Larry Smith entertains two of his four children. Listen to an extended interview with him about homelessness in St. Cloud, the challenges of finding affordable housing, and hanging on to his family. (Approx. seven min.) (MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

"A lot of people are scared now because winter, it wasn't cold to begin with. We thought we were going to have a mild winter, but now it's starting to get real cold."

On Jan. 12, Larry Smith had three days to move out of his transitional housing. The local housing coalition didn't renew his lease.

"Because of my kids, you know. My kids made too much noise. But kids are gonna be kids," he said.

His kids are four years old, two years old, one year old, and six months. Every night for three weeks, he and his fiance have bundled the whole gang into a van heading for one of 10 local churches. The Church of the Week program finds willing volunteers and 20 extra beds a night by laying out half-inch mats on a different church floor each week.

Smith says it can be a little chilly, but he's extremely grateful for the program. "My kids, we have to get a lot of blankets on us. It's a little uncomfortable on the backs. But what I'm saying is if it wasn't for them, at least we got a warm place to take my kids," he said.

	Pastor Carol Jean Smith does a few final breathalyzer tests as people board the van to the church. Anyone with a trace of alcohol cannot take part in the program. (MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

Church of the week is run by Place of Hope Ministries, and Pastor Carol Jean Smith (no relation). Pastor Carol, as she is known, structured the program after a similar one in St. Paul. She grappled for three years with city and nonprofit bureaucracies. Safety and health concerns were finally resolved and the program began on Christmas day.

"(It was) just very hard getting it off the ground, because people are like, 'What about this, what about that, what this, what that,'" she said. "Well, 'What if?' What if somebody freezes to death?"

She just recently signed up two more churches and counts at least 140 volunteers. In its first month the program served 57 people, including 12 children. Most nights they still have to turn people away.

	Larry Smith ferries his children out to the van, where they are buckled in next to others heading to the church for the night. (MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

Her Place of Hope Ministry has been serving the homeless for three years. But Pastor Carol says since November the traffic has doubled. It was a sudden and dramatic change she's at a loss to explain, but the new program came along just in time. It brings the number of shelter spots in town to more than 100. She guesses that on this night there still may be at least 100 more in St. Cloud, sleeping in their cars or depleting their most recent paychecks for a few warm nights in a motel.

And she's worried lately about another sudden surge.

"When Fingerhut said they were going to close, I just thought, 'Oh, no. We're in big trouble,'" she said. "Many people are just a month from being homeless themselves."

Place of Hope occupies a commercial space on St. Cloud's east side, next to a day-labor company. People who need a place to stay arrive in the early evening to fill out an application and read the rules. If Place of Hope can find them another space in town, they will.

"We encourage them to check the Salvation Army, check the other shelters, so we're working all night to get people anywhere there's room," she said. "So by the time we get to about 7:00 or 7:30, we've pretty much figured out where is there room and where isn't here. And those are the people that are left for Church of the Week."

	Some homeless do not wish to be sheltered. This man (guitar and bedroll on back, at left) regularly stops by Place of Hope, but walks off to spend each night outdoors. (MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

The van arrives about 8:45. Like many shelters, Church of the Week has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol. On the way out the door, everyone gives a final puff into Pastor Carol's hand-held breathalyzer.

Others pitch in to help Larry Smith get his kids zipped up and hustled out to the waiting van.

The designated church is a secret, known only to a few volunteers and the St. Cloud police and fire departments. This keeps latecomers from showing up and guarantees a degree of privacy for the 20 people staying there.

At the church the group will gather in a circle, introduce themselves, and pray. Make no mistake, says Pastor Carol, this is a faith-based initiative. In more than two months there has not been a fight. And insomnia is rarely an issue; it's a life that leaves most people exhausted.

By 9 p.m., the van door shuts to the cold air and one more night is taken care of.

Church of the Week will end its trial run in April. Pastor Carol knows there will plenty of regret when they take a break to assess the first attempt at the program. But if it's ruled a success, it may return in September and become a more permanent tool in meeting the housing needs in St. Cloud.