Pastor Brian Souza of River United Methodist Church, in Woonsocket, where tents have been set up for the homeless. “There aren’t enough shelters, there aren’t enough treatment centers and there aren’t enough case workers,” he says.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

WOONSOCKET — Pastor Brian Souza has worked with the homeless for seven years. This week, he went further: outside his church he pitched four tents for a half-dozen homeless men. During Monday night’s downpour, Souza slept in one.

The 52-year-old ex-cop says he’ll continue to sleep in the makeshift campground –– pitched in the brick courtyard of his River United Methodist Communities –– until the public becomes aware of “the growing problem.”

“There aren’t enough shelters, there aren’t enough treatment centers and there aren’t enough case workers,” said Mr. Souza, who offers meals and guidance to a flock of 100 people, most of them poor and homeless.

“I just heard about a family cooking meals in the woods. They have two little children.”

The homeless can’t sleep inside the church, on Federal Street, because the century-old building doesn’t meet the state fire code. The pastor says he hopes city and state officials will find a safer location.

In the past year, the number of people who eat free meals at the church has doubled, to 120, Mr. Souza said. “The economy is bad. We have a 59-year-old construction worker who never thought he’d be out of a job. But he is.”

The urban church isn’t alone.

Both Crossroads Rhode Island and United Way of Rhode Island have reported a surge in requests for everything from emergency beds to help with rents.

In February, the number of people using homeless shelters jumped 43 percent over the same month in 2008, according to a new HousingWorksRI report.

Dozens more will need help this month.

Four seasonal emergency shelters have closed or will do so soon, said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless

Dubbed hypothermia shelters, they are designed to “get people out of the cold,” said Ryczek.

“Some are leaving now,” said Sheryl Marshall, program director of ACCESS-RI, which helps oversee a Pawtucket shelter scheduled to close next month.

Some have found apartments or are doubling up with families and friends. But others will sleep in parks or woods or under bridges, say experts.

Linda Barden, at Welcome House, in South Kingstown, says she is ready to help. “If the need is there, I’ll open a tent city in our back yard,” she said. A nearby church has also agreed to open its doors.

“The demand is constant,” said Barden. Over the winter, she and other agency officials spent $7,000 in donations to help 70 people find food, help and temporary shelter. That program ends this month.

For years, high rents and mortgages have kept many out of the housing market. Now, prices are coming down, “but the jobs aren’t there,” Barden said.

In Woonsocket, Mr. Souza is feeling the pinch.

“I’ve given away 40 tents and 30 sleeping bags –– in just one week,” he said.

Safety is a concern. Recently, a homeless man was beaten under a bridge, he said. Others have died on the street. In the courtyard is a cross made of bricks and broken glass. Homeless men made it. “The broken glass reflects broken lives,” Souza said.

Some cities are doing more, he said. In Austin, Texas, officials are placing the homeless in mobile homes bought by corporations. That makes it easier for case workers and others to help, he said.

For 20 years, Mr. Souza met homeless people as a policeman in Massachusetts communities.

Then, 15 years ago, he decided he could do more through the church.

“I went into law enforcement to help people,” he said. “Then I found out I could help homeless and addicted people more by loving them rather than locking them up.”

pdavis@projo.com