Is it easy to pick someone who lacks permanent housing out of a crowd? George Anderson doesn’t think so, and he should know far better than most.

Anderson, 47, possesses a unique perspective on homelessness because prior to being without a place to live for about a year he worked as a human services caseworker. Having been on both sides of the table, he said being homeless isn’t a choice.

“It’s frightening,” Anderson said. “It was a rude awakening. You find out who your friends are.”

Anderson knew he was in trouble when his bills just kept going up. Even though he was working full-time, he said there wasn’t enough money and eventually he couldn’t pay his rent.

“My family wasn’t very supportive. You kind of lose your sense of hope,” Anderson said. “If it wasn’t for SOS, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) started as a grassroots effort in the basement of St. Clements Church 15 years ago. It has evolved over time from a warm place to sleep at night into an institution providing food, shelter, clothing, employment, transportation assistance and case management to approximately 250 people a year.

Located at 14 Walworth St. for the past decade, SOS is the only homeless shelter for adult men and women in Saratoga and Warren Counties. Executive Director Nancy Breen Lamb said awareness of the homeless problem is growing, but added that she runs into a lot of people who are surprised a shelter even exists in Saratoga.

“In the last 12 months the shelter has served 282 people, and had to turn away a lot of others,” Breen Lamb said. “We’re full almost every night year-round. This is a huge issue in Saratoga County, and it’s not going away.”

Breen Lamb said Anderson doesn’t live at the shelter any longer, but still comes in for some of their services. Having found a place to live which he can afford, Anderson said his next step will be going back to school. He plans to study Communications at Hudson Valley Community College.

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, Mayor Valerie Keehn, Saratoga Springs City Supervisors Joanne Yepsen and Cheryl Keyrouze and a host of other guest speakers addressed a small crowd gathered in front of the Saratoga Springs City Center. The public rally, which was sponsored by the Saratoga County Housing Alliance, was one of the many events planned around the Spa City to recognize National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov. 11-17).

Yepsen believes homelessness is a dilemma the area needs to address. She said there are many different aspects to it, and a lot of people need help working through the barriers they face in their lives.

“Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County are not immune to this problem,” Yepsen said.

Maggie Fronk, executive director of Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services of Saratoga County and one of the co-chairs of SCHA, said a Point in Time Count done Jan. 29, 2007 found there were at least 486 individuals experiencing homelessness in Saratoga County and 265 of them were children. Fronk believes the data is very conservative.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of it is invisible,” she said.

Unlike in a big city, there aren’t a lot of people in Saratoga Springs or elsewhere in Saratoga County living on the streets. Instead, Fronk said the area has “hidden” homelessness, like a person crashing on the sofa of a friend or relative for days, weeks or months at a time due to lack of a stable residence.

Fronk said many of these homeless individuals are working full-time, but can’t meet their basic needs. She believes affordable housing in the city and the surrounding area is an issue, as is the lack of public transportation.

“It can just take one thing like a medical crisis or the loss of a job. I hear stories like that all the time,” Fronk said of people becoming homeless. “It’s a domino effect.”

At the rally, Keehn expressed her appreciation for the efforts put forth by the organizations and individuals that are part of SCHA. She believes homelessness is a bigger problem in the area than most people realize and one which has expanded to include a broader scope of individuals.

“Homelessness can affect anyone at any point in their life,” Keehn said.

Tim Martin has been homeless for almost two years. He is 24 years old.

The polite, clean-cut young man served in the Army from 2002-04, and fought in Iraq. After getting wounded, Martin returned home to the United States where he said he “made a few bad decisions,” including falling into substance abuse. Martin said the drugs were a way for him to forget about things he saw in the Middle East.

“I couldn’t stop,” he said. “I lost everything.”

Martin is currently staying at the Saratoga County Rural Preservation Co. Vet House located in Ballston Spa. He said without the help of the Department of Veterans Affairs he wouldn’t have known where to go.

“It’s depressing,” Martin said of being homeless. “You lose all self-motivation. You feel defeated.”

James Gray, 56, who is also currently staying at the Vet House, can relate with how Martin feels.

The Vietnam veteran, who served in the Air Force from 1968-71, has been homeless off and on ever since he left the service.

Although Gray has had good jobs and never been fired, he said he has been laid off a few times.

He added that sometimes there just aren’t any jobs. To get by, Gray has eaten out of garbage cans, and slept in parks, doorways and abandoned buildings.

“Homelessness is no joke. It’s devastating, but I’ve survived by the grace of God,” he said.

Gray believes New York has become a state in which homelessness thrives. He said there is a dire need for more shelters and soup kitchens, and considers himself blessed to have found the opportunity he has.

“I have a chance now to be self-sufficient and get my life together,” Gray said. “I think I can see a brighter future today. I’m staying positive that things will get better for me.”