It might be a family sleeping in a car.

A drunk passed out on a bedroll by a creek.

A teenager strung out on drugs, crashing on a friend's couch.

On any given night in Colorado Springs, at least 2,000 people don't have a permanent place to call home, and while it might not sound like a lot in a city of about 500,000, the homeless put a disproportionate strain on police, hospitals and social service agencies, and test a community's sense of compassion.

Homelessness is nothing new; people have crashed in cardboard boxes, doorways, parks and other public places for decades. But the issue is taking on new urgency as the deteriorating economy threatens to put more people on the streets while crippling the budgets of the agencies that assist them.

As Colorado Springs officials prepare to embark on a 10-year plan to deal with homelessness, The Gazette is launching a series of stories that will examine the challenges and issues surrounding the area's three major homeless populations: families, the fastest-growing; chronic, the most costly; and teens, a group that tends to fall through the cracks.

City officials and those who work with the homeless acknowledge that homelessness is a problem that can only be abated, not eliminated. But advocates for the homeless say it costs more to avoid the issue than comprehensively treat it, and that - from a practical and moral standpoint - it has to be addressed.

"It's no longer about simply funding well-meaning programs, but investing in bringing an end to the moral and spiritual disgrace of homelessness," the U.S. homelessness czar Philip Mangano told city officials during a visit in November to discuss the plan.

Increasing population
In Colorado Springs, the number of homeless has doubled, from 1,000 five years ago to 2,000 today, according to estimates by Homeward Pikes Peak, an agency that coordinates homeless assistance. That bucks a national trend in which homelessness decreased 12 percent from 2005 to 2007.

Reasons for the increase in Colorado Springs are difficult to pinpoint, said Bob Holmes, executive director of Homeward Pikes Peak, and he's not even convinced the jump was that dramatic. The homeless are hard to count because of their transient nature, and he believes more homeless were in the region five years ago than what was recorded.

"I'm not willing to concede we missed the boat, because we're doing the same techniques as other cities" to help the homeless and prevent homelessness, he said.

Regardless of how much the homeless population has increased, there's little doubt that homelessness costs a community through uninsured hospitalizations, stints in detox, crime and a mass of social service programs.

About $5 million is earmarked annually to fund homeless services in Colorado Springs, through federal and state grants and at least $300,000 of local taxpayers' money appropriated by City Council, Holmes said. But the city and state contribute proportionately less money to address homelessness here than in other municipalities; Denver, for example, spends about $70 million a year on homeless programs, he said. Even though the capital city's population is larger, the amount is greater proportionately than what Colorado Springs spends, Holmes said.

Homeless advocates say the need for more funding in Colorado Springs is becoming critical, as a result of the climbing number of homeless. The fear is that the weak economy is driving more people into poverty and out of homes. Many of the 50 local agencies that service the homeless report an alarming rise in the number of people on the verge of losing their residences.

One organization, Partners in Housing, is experiencing record demand, development director Erin Taylor said. At one point this fall, Partners in Housing closed its application process for its two-year transitional housing program because of the influx, but has since reinstated it.

Partners in Housing assists families, the largest of the three main segments of the homeless population. In recent months, the working poor have become poorer because of unemployment and the rising costs of food, energy and medical care. With no economic turnaround in sight, their numbers are likely to grow.

Facility packed
Another segment of the homeless - teens and young adults - is also growing. They include rebellious youth who leave home seeking the freedom of the streets, and those who flee abuse or are told to get out and stay out, often because of drug or alcohol abuse or mental illness.

Urban Peak, the primary local agency that assists homeless teens, served 248 youths ages 15 to 21 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, said John McIlwee, executive director. The facility can house up to 10 males and 10 females and has a growing waiting list for its beds, something that has never been a problem in the four years it's been open. On Nov. 7, the agency had 12 males on its waiting list. By mid-December, that number had grown to 35 - 25 males and 10 females.

The segment of the homeless population that gets the most attention, though, is the comparatively small but costly one that camps along the city's creeks and works downtown corners with outstretched hands: the chronic homeless. This group of an estimated 400 people consumes nearly $22 million a year in resources through police and jail time, emergency room visits, frequent trips to detox and treatment.

It's a group that has proven to be the most problematic to help. The reasons - and solutions - are complex. Many face debilitating mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, and use alcohol or drugs to silence the voices in their heads. Others are addicts unable to hold a job or stay sober enough to meet requirements for treatment programs. The root of their problem goes well beyond a hot meal or warm bed, and the few mental health and substance abuse resources available to the indigent are ill-fit for the job at hand.

The result: a costly cycle where police, fire and ambulance crews pick people up and deliver them to a hospital emergency room or detox center, only to see them again and again.

"There are people we keep overnight just so they don't go out and freeze to death," said Dr. Marilyn Gifford, director of Memorial Hospital Central's emergency services.

There are no cheap and easy fixes to the problem of homelessness, but this month, the City Council will review a 10-year plan to "serve every homeless person." The goal is to get most of the homeless into permanent residences and help them become productive, tax-paying citizens.

"We're not going to cure homelessness in 10 years, but I hope we're able to reach a hand out to every homeless person," Holmes said.