With the season's first frost this week and the possibility of an early season snow, probably no one is watching the doorway as closely as operators of area homeless shelters.

Typically, the first days of cold weather convince the homeless, who have been staying outside during the warmer months, to head indoors.

With the nation in an economic recession and joblessness at a quarter-century high, this year has not been typical.

The shelters are nearly full already.

On Thursday night, with a steady rain and temperatures in the 30s, the county's largest shelter, Water Street Rescue Mission — with a capacity for more than 300 — had only four emergency shelter beds available.

Once those are full, the mission will allow people to sleep on benches in the lobby, said Maria Schaszberger, Water Street's spokeswoman.

Tom Clingan is hoping it won't come to that.

And, if things go as planned, it won't.

"The goal is to (never) have anyone move into the shelter system," said Clingan, director of homelessness and affordable housing for United Way of Lancaster County.

Last week, the United Way's LINC, or Lancaster Information Center, began screening callers seeking assistance for a new homelessness prevention program.

The program, backed by nearly $2.5 million in federal and state stimulus funds, seeks to keep people who are facing eviction in their homes and to get people who recently were evicted into housing.

LINC has fielded 453 calls, and 143 of the callers might be eligible for the program. One family already has received assistance.

The effort follows the release last year of the county's 10-year plan to end homelessness by emphasizing permanent housing.

Still, Clingan, 58, acknowledges the local shelters could be overwhelmed. Or, they might not be. They won't know until tomorrow, or the next day, or next month.

It has always been difficult to get an accurate picture of the homeless population here.

The popular perception of the chronically homeless — a man living on the street — accounts for only about 10 percent of homeless people. The overwhelming majority are temporarily homeless. A job loss or a health issue might have pushed them over the financial edge. Some might stay with family or friends and never enter a shelter.

In fact, there are many families among the homeless population, Clingan said. And often they are families with children, said Susan Eckert, United Way president.

Of the 738 people counted in shelters or on the streets on a single night in January, 180 of them were children, Eckert said.

The beds for women and families at the Water Street mission are full. The family rooms are full at the YWCA, Glass House and Transitional Living Center, Clingan said.

Getting those people into permanent housing is the key to ending homelessness, Clingan said.

Unlike past years, the county is in a better position to respond to the needs of people who are homeless or facing homelessness.

Clingan is partly responsible for that.

A former Armstrong World Industries executive, Clingan came to the United Way and began drafting organizational charts and forming committees.

Three teams are now discussing what should be done. One of those is keeping track of when emergency shelters are nearing capacity. Another is focused on families. The third is a steering committee for the winter shelter program hosted by several city houses of worship.

Clingan's experiences in training, sales and working in a corporate culture help him in his role, Eckert said. Clingan knows how to use resources to streamline systems and get the best results, she said.

"It makes good business sense, and it also makes good human sense," she said.

Clingan got his start working with the homeless as a volunteer. He has been a volunteer at Water Street for many years. He would often serve Saturday morning breakfasts.

As he was winding down his business career, Clingan said he felt called to work where he felt God was working and he got progressively more involved in the shelters.

"In the business world, you focus on success, and in your second career you focus on significance," Clingan said, referring to a quote he has heard several times.

"For me, that resonated."

It convinced Clingan to approach a friend and former co-worker, Lenny Walton, and ask how he could get more involved.

The question to Walton, the United Way's first homelessness director, came as Walton was looking to step out of that role. Eckert said they kept the job open for three or four months as Walton eased out of the position and Clingan completed 35 years at Armstrong.

Clingan and his wife, Barbara, a speech therapist with Intermediate Unit 13, live in East Hempfield Township. They have two adult children.

bharris@lnpnews.com