Down the street from the Des Moines Bethel Mission emergency shelter, a thin man in a tattered tan coat and overalls waves his cardboard sign at cars at the intersection of Sixth and University avenues, begging for money.

His sign reads, “Good Christian Stranded Please Help.”

He has a red and gray beard. His front teeth are missing, and the ones remaining in back are stained.

He goes by Pony, which used to be his CB call sign when he was a truck driver.

Pony doesn’t give his real name, because he says he has several warrants out for his arrest.

“I haven’t always been a good Christian,” Pony said.

In recent years, homelessness in Iowa has been increasing. David Burrier, chief development and community relations officer for Hope Ministries, said emergency shelters see a rise in numbers during the winter. During the last 10 years, Burrier said homelessness in Des Moines has doubled.

Hope Ministries, which runs on $2.8 million in private funds, 741 volunteers and 40 staff members, operates four shelters in Des Moines including Bethel Mission, a men’s emergency shelter.

During a two-week period in 2005, Iowa shelters reported that they turned away 765 homeless people because of a lack of space.

“There’s always need for more shelters,” Burrier said.

In 2003, the Bush administration’s Interagency Council on Homelessness started a plan that sought to reduce the chronically homeless population within 10 years.

According to a statewide study in 2005 by the Iowa Council on Homelessness, approximately 7 percent of homeless people in Iowa fit the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of being chronically homeless.

This requires a person to have a disabling condition and have been continuously homeless for a year or have had at least four episodes of homelessness within three years.

The 2005 study found that 61 percent of the homeless population in Iowa is homeless families with children. It also found that single women and their children represented approximately 45 percent of Iowa’s homeless population. The study showed that approximately 21,280 Iowans were homeless at some point during 2005, which is an increase of more than 2,600 people since 1999.

Single adults made up 27 percent of the population, with single men representing about 18 percent of Iowa’s homeless.

Pony said he used to put “God Bless You” on his signs, but now prefers to just say it to people who stop and give him a dollar.

Amy Knudsen, graduate student in sociology, was the Churches United shelter director in Des Moines for more than four years. She is now the associate director for the Iowa Coalition for Housing and the Homeless.

Grants for shelters for the chronically homeless offer bonuses that aren’t available for other types of shelters, Knudsen said.

She also said the focus by the Bush administration on the chronically homeless does not make sense for many rural counties, which have more homeless families.

“It’s putting one population against the other for resources when you have scarce resources,” Knudsen said.

The 2005 study also found that women made up 56 percent of the homeless population, up from 52 percent in 1999.

“Des Moines has a significant shortage of beds for females,” Knudsen said.

Domestic violence and divorce are also a major contributing factor to homelessness. Knudsen said after a family breakup there is generally a significant loss of income.

Tina, who used an alias so she would not be identifiable by her partner, was staying at the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support, a women’s emergency shelter.

“I’m going to be homeless,” Tina said.

She said she was assaulted by her boyfriend and is leaving her house.

“The sole reason I have to leave is I have to be afraid of this person,” Tina said.

Tina said people at the ACCESS shelter have helped her make goals and by suggesting resources.

“If they weren’t there, I can’t even imagine how worse it would be,” Tina said.

ACCESS shelter coordinator Tami Wirth said domestic abuse is about control, and part of that control is providing support. Without support, it makes it hard for a woman to leave an abusive relationship.

“It takes an average of seven times for a person to leave an abusive relationship,” Wirth said.

Fear of the abusive partner can shatter the ability to work. Tina’s fear is that her boyfriend will find her.

“I couldn’t sleep out of fear,” Tina said. “I still always have to be afraid.”

In 2004, Hope Ministries opened the Hope Family Center for single women with children.

At full capacity, the shelter can hold 48 women and their children, who can stay for one year or more in one of Hope Ministries programs.

“The shelter provider system has realized that the best course of action is housing stability and various services,” Knudsen said.

The Journey of Hope, a Hope Ministries program men can enter in the Bethel Mission emergency shelter, is a substance abuse program for the chronically homeless that uses control as a cornerstone of their program.

“For a person to find Christ is the most successful thing we can do,” Burrier said.

Once in the Journey of Hope program, men are routinely tested for alcohol and drug use and must study the Bible and attend chapel services.

“We have strict rules,” Burrier said. “Once you break the rules, you have to leave.”

Burrier said 47 percent of the people in the program move on to the next step at the Door of Faith men’s recovery center. Once there, they begin the spiritual training and recovery program.

At a given time, Burrier said there are approximately 50 people in the program and 61 percent graduate. The program can take longer than a year.

Frederick Gibbons, professor of psychology who has researched substance abuse for 20 years, said it is important for substance abusers to realize their behavior is out of control. Once they do that, a step many recovery programs use involves the substance abuser giving control to someone else.

“The more you use, the more likely you are to need help,” Gibbons said. “For many people, trying to get control over an addictive behavior is hard to do.”