If you pass by Interfaith Sanctuary on Saturday, you may notice a new addition to the shelter that houses homeless men, women and children in Boise’s River Street neighborhood.

Sanctuary is installing a large canopy inside its gates. The canopy, donated by the First Presbyterian Church of Boise, will provide a roof so homeless men can sleep in the parking lot when there’s no room inside the shelter.

That has been the situation since May 23, when Sanctuary started operating above its capacity of 155 people per night, said its director, Jayne Sorrels.

“There have only been a few days since then when our numbers have gone down,” she said.

On Tuesday, 167 people spent the night.

The policy at Sanctuary has been to refer people to other shelters or turn them away when it’s full. But it’s not always possible for a homeless person to find other lodging.

“With the chronically homeless, we’ll go the limit,” said Jim Gambrell, operations manager at another Valley shelter, the Boise Rescue Mission. “But if they become hostile, they’re asked to leave.”

When that happens, said Gambrell, the Rescue Mission makes two calls: one to the police, who might be able to take the person in question to the detox program or sobering station at Allumbaugh House. The other call is to Sanctuary.

Sorrels agreed that Sanctuary is often a last resort, and as such, it will no longer turn people away.

While spending the night in the Sanctuary parking lot is not ideal, it’s better than having men who are often vulnerable because of their condition — likely to hurt themselves or to be victimized by others — sent back out to the street, she said.

A HOUSING SHORTAGE

Though housing programs for chronically homeless men are particularly sparse, homeless men are not the only local people struggling to find shelter, Sorrels said.

The Boise Rescue Mission expanded its City Light Home for Women and Children on Jefferson Street two years ago, converting a warehouse across the street into a 58-bed dorm.

“We thought that would hold us a couple years, but we’re maxed out,” said Gambrell. “We pretty much make room. It’s kind of staggering.”

Complicating things for a range of homeless people — including families that have become homeless for the first time — is that this spring, the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority closed its waiting list for low-rent public housing.

The reason: large demand for assistance and federal budget cuts.

Only the waiting list for special-needs populations referred through homeless shelters, El Ada Community Action Partnership and Terry Riley Health Services remains open, said Executive Director Deanna Watson.

The now-closed rental assistance list has 5,500 families on it, and the typical waiting period for assistance is five years, Watson said. Cuts have forced her office to lay off five staffers out of 52 and reduce office hours. Staff is taking furlough days.

“Enough to get us through to the end of the fiscal year. But we anticipate in the next budget cycle there will be more cuts,” she said.

“You could point your finger at any number of families on our waiting list, hear their stories, and you’d say, ‘That’s just not right,’” said Watson. “A lot of them never anticipated that they would need help from someone like us.”

With the closing of the waiting list, Sorrels said she has even fewer options to move people out of the shelter.

There’s a danger that more shelter seekers will become long-term residents at Sanctuary.

Last year, more than 400 people left the Boise Rescue Mission system and moved into independent or assisted living. A quarter of them were classified “chronically homeless.” Still, Gambrell echoed Sorrels’ concern about the closing of the list.

The mission, he said, has programs that encourage shelter clients to become self-sufficient by helping them get training, find jobs and set up savings accounts specifically for their first and last months’ rent as soon as they’re out of the shelter.

“We have people who are getting work and saving money. We used to work with housing services to find some decent housing, but that’s crumbling, ” he said.

A GOOD MARKET FOR LANDLORDS

Those trying to re-enter the housing market after being homeless have a lot of competition.

Tom McClung works with Metro Management in Boise, a firm that manages properties across the Valley that range from $350 one-bedrooms in Boise’s North End to $2,200 multi-bedroom houses in the ParkCenter area. He said the market is better now for people in the rental industry than it’s been in five years — but not so good for renters without deep pockets.

“Things are going quickly,” McClung said — particularly apartments on the lower end. “We’re getting calls on everything. ... There is a flood of people coming into the rental market who were not there two years ago.”

That flood includes people who have lost their houses in foreclosures and turned to rentals. High demand means that a landlord who had been charging $700 rent, for example, might raise it to $800, edging out some families.

“And there’s no question, some properties will pull out of the assistance market, because now they can charge the higher rent range,” he said.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Sorrels said Interfaith Sanctuary is working with the city to try and find solutions to the housing shortage.

Sanctuary is part of the city’s Continuum of Care program that’s trying to curb homelessness in Boise. City programs look for permanent solutions, said Adam Park, a spokesman in the mayor’s office. But the city is taking Sanctuary’s situation seriously.

One potential idea is opening the under-used sobering station at Allumbaugh House to people who are now spending nights in Sanctuary’s small sobering room. This would let Sanctuary turn its room into additional dormitory space, said Park.

But at least on Saturday, men will be using Sanctuary’s parking lot as a camp ground.

“Right now, we’ve had to triage and prioritize,” said Sorrels.

Anna Webb: 377-6431