Homeless shelters in the Treasure Valley are filling up faster and earlier than in past years, and with the busy winter season around the corner, shelter administrators are nervous about what's to come.

"We're very concerned, frankly," said Bill Roscoe, executive director of Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, which operates three shelters.

"This is the first time that we've had such a surge in the summer and fall. This is a unique event."

Shelters have been at near-capacity all fall, and the people seeking their help are not just regular visitors.

New faces - including an alarming number of women and children - keep appearing.

More families, in particular, are showing up hungry, Roscoe said.

Demand for meals has been on the rise since July. Boise Rescue Mission is on pace to serve 280,000 meals this year, compared to 178,000 in 2007.

This strain on services comes amid decreasing donations from a public hit hard by the economy.

Boise Rescue Mission is 6 percent behind budget for fiscal year 2008. Interfaith Sanctuary Housing Services in Boise saw a $6,000 drop in unsolicited donations from August to September.

"In our case, it is the double-edged sword," Roscoe said.

"As the economy takes a turn down and unemployment goes up, more people turn to the mission for help," he explained.

"At the same time, folks who would support the Rescue Mission are feeling hard times themselves."

Guest overflow areas - such as couches and dining room floors - already are in use at places like City Light Home for Women and Children in Boise, weeks before the cold-weather rush.

The shelter, which has 38 beds, is averaging 58 nightly guests this month. Guests who don't get beds sleep on mats in the dining room.

The number of pregnant women and newborns - some of whom have fled domestic violence, Roscoe said - is cause for concern.

Two women staying at City Light Home have given birth this fall, and two more pregnant women came to the shelter Monday, Roscoe said.

Interfaith Sanctuary, another homeless shelter in Boise, is housing at least four pregnant women and two infants.

The shelter is averaging around 145 guests in a 155-capacity building.

"We definitely haven't had this many women in need before," said Fawn Pettet, development and social services director. "We don't know what we're going to do with people that wait to come in until it's really cold."

With increasing demand and decreasing funds, Interfaith Sanctuary is in a holding pattern, Pettet said, forgoing programs that aid the transition out of homelessness in favor of serving the immediate needs of its guests.

"We aren't able to move people out as much as new people are needing to move in," she said. "We just do the basic service for everybody that we can."

The shelters are bracing for the possibility of reaching full capacity this winter.

"We've always had the philosophy that one way or another, we're going to provide for people, and we're not going to ever turn people away," Roscoe said.

"We've never been in a place where we couldn't serve someone who needed help. But if we did, there would be people out there without a place to stay."

Chad Dryden: 672-6734