They may not be the stereotypical scruffy, bearded men, holding signs on a street corner, but they are struggling to find shelter just the same.

This year the Homeless Resource Network, in conjunction with Emergency Shelter Services in Benton Harbor, counted 594 homeless people in Berrien County — the highest number since the network began the count several years ago.

For this study, homelessness was broadened to include not just those living on the street but also people in unsafe or temporary housing.

There were 21 homeless adults counted in the Niles and Buchanan area, while Brandywine High School and Niles High School have 35 and 23 homeless students respectively.

The count took place Jan. 26 and was done throughout the county. The statistics were then forwarded to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to be used to determine funding for area agencies.

The Emergency Shelter’s executive director, Alysia Babcock, said the total number of homeless people is significantly up from 2008 when they counted 257 and 2009 and 2010 when there were fewer than 100 counted.

“The economy is affecting it,” Babcock said. “But we have also continuously improved the way we locate people and count them.”

This year the agency used area law enforcement, schools and churches to better locate those without homes or in temporary housing.

“We spread out and had a more concentrated effort in outlying areas,” she said.

And the numbers in those areas were surprising, she said.

“The biggest surprises were the numbers in non-traditional areas like Buchanan and New Buffalo,” she said. “That’s scary. It’s definitely shocking and a wake-up call to the community.”

The most shocking statistics to Babcock were the 60 homeless students counted in Buchanan Community Schools and the 35 counted in Brandywine.

Andrea van der Laan, the superintendent for Buchanan, said none of the 60 students counted are without a place to stay.

“We don’t have any children living on the streets or in cars. All of our students are taken care of,” she said, adding that most of those students are living with family members or friends.

Brandywine Community Schools Superintendent John Jarpe had the same to say about his district.

“It’s tough economic times. If someone is evicted or foreclosed upon and the whole family has to move into grandpa and grandma’s, technically that constitutes homelessness now,” he said. “We’ve done a fairly good job of knowing our students and where they live and what their situations are.”

Still, van der Laan acknowledges that those children need some extra help, which is why Buchanan schools have brought in the Niles Salvation Army’s “Feeding His Sheep” program.

There are 50 students in the district that participate in the program, bringing in a backpack on Fridays and having it filled with meals for the weekend. Van der Laan also said the food and clothing drives take place at the schools throughout the year.

The program is offered in the Niles and Brandywine school districts as well.

The Buchanan district also offers tutoring programs after school and has hired interventionists for extra help at all the schools to help students academically.

Jan Nowak-Lumm, the director of caring ministries and social services at the Niles Salvation Army, said she was not at all surprised by the statistics in south county.

“People want to think there aren’t many homeless in this area, yet there are,” she said. “They are the invisible needy. They are not waving flags, saying ‘Hey, I’m homeless.'”

Nowak-Lumm said the community is seeing more multiple generation families living in the same house. She recently met two families living in the same small house.

“That’s 12 people in one house,” she said.

Nowak-Lumm said the stereotype of a homeless person needs to be forgotten, as she is seeing more people without permanent housing due to circumstance, not negative decision making.

“I cringe when I read the news, corporations scaling back, exhausting unemployment benefits,” she said. “What are people to do?”

While The Salvation Army doesn’t have the resources to directly combat homelessness, it does help the homeless through programs like “Feeding His Sheep” and offering free meals and clothing to the needy in the community.

Currently, there are no homeless shelters in Niles or Buchanan. The closest ones are in South Bend, Decatur and Three Rivers. Babcock said the Emergency Shelter in Benton Harbor also services people from south county.

“But we’re trying to put shelters out of business,” she said. “It’s more about homelessness prevention. If we can prevent someone from being homeless, it saves everybody money.”

For more information about the Homeless Resource Network or Emergency Shelter Services or to make a donation, contact Babcock at (269) 925-1131.