There are a lot of things Melissa Rogers has been counting down.

The days until she can no longer afford her Coeur d'Alene hotel room and has to live in her car. How many more miles until her gas tank runs out and she can't refill it. How long until her next disability check, to buy food for herself, her 18-year-old son and their service animals.

"I have $30 in my bank account, I'm running on empty in my car," said Rogers, 42, who can't work because of her disability from diabetes.

Oh, the hotel room countdown? It was up on Thursday.

Now she's counting how long they'll be on the waiting list for transitional housing.

"You never know when you're going to get in," Rogers said. "I don't know what we're going to do."

Homeless numbers in Kootenai County aren't improving.

The official numbers have yet to be crunched for this year's Point in Time survey of homeless in North Idaho.

But some patterns are clear enough already from the survey, said Matt Hutchinson, St. Vincent de Paul social services director.

"We know that the overall numbers for homeless in Kootenai County are consistent. It doesn't look like it's dropped any," Hutchinson said.

Last year's PIT count was more than 600 in the five northern counties.

Demand for Kootenai County homeless services are high, according to nonprofit spokespeople.

SVDP's HELP center sees between 85 and 100 individuals seeking services from agencies for their homeless situations every day, said Jeff Conroy, SVDP director.

"The numbers are staggering of people coming through here," he said, adding that most are local. "These aren't duplicates. These are individuals per day."

There is a wait list for SVDP's 60 transitional housing units, he said, and the men and women's emergency shelters have recently been full.

"It's jobs," Conroy explained. "Unemployment is a lagging indicator of homelessness. When people lose jobs, they don't automatically become homeless. It takes time."

This year's Point in Time surveys show a new pattern, Hutchinson said. A vaulting number of homeless youths.

From the surveys collected by volunteers, Hutchinson has counted 79 males and 80 females under 18 who have left home in North Idaho.

"They are separated from their parents," he said.

A lot of problems arise for this population, he said.

For one, many are couch surfing and won't be counted in the official Point in Time report, as the Housing and Urban Development labels them as precariously housed, not homeless.

Also, it's harder to provide services for teenagers because of the complexities of gaining emancipation. SVDP can't provide shelter for minors, Hutchinson said, without proper documentation and a release from a guardian.

"These kids are pretty much couch surfing, living with a friend, staying in a friend's basement, living in a trailer on a piece of property," he said. "They've already experienced a homeless situation and they're not 18 yet. It's really dangerous for our community."

Howard Martinson, director of Fresh Start stop-in center in Coeur d'Alene, said the number of homeless who stopped by to use services like laundry, Internet and showers jumped 70 percent in 2010.

"About 50 to 75 (individuals per day) is typical. Some days it's heavier than that," he said.

The stop-in center usually caters to chronically homeless, he said, but has recently seen an uptick in temporary homeless.

"It's due probably to the soft economy," he said. "And I think word gets out that we're safe and an OK place to hang out."

Minors are discouraged from using Fresh Start services, he added, because of the large population of clients with mental illness and drug and alcohol problems.

"Our place is not appropriate for youth," he said. "We ask them for ID, and if they don't have ID, we tell them to leave and go to school."

Folks don't need to sleep outdoors to know it's tough to be homeless right now in Kootenai County, Hutchinson said.

There are many individuals fighting for low-paying jobs in the area, he said.

"Based on the high unemployment rate, based on low wages and high rent, there's not a good counterbalance here," he said.

The weather is a whole other factor this time of year, Conroy said, with limited refuge from strong winds, rain storms and snow.

"It's brutal, and St. Vincent opened its second warming center just because of that," he said of the overnight centers open in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls. "We don't want people to have to traverse city to city to get services."

The key for surviving is sticking in groups, said David Meeks, who was visiting Fresh Start on a Monday morning.

"We live in tents all together. That way we're all safe," said Meeks, 22, who has been homeless off and on after being dropped from the foster system at 18. "We like to stay in big groups. We all have to take care of each other."

The hardest part of his situation, Meeks said, is soldiering through Idaho weather.

"The warming shelters open when it's 20 degrees, but otherwise you're outside in a tent and sleeping bag," he said.

Among the group he tends to lean on is 18-year-old Rebecca Eberle, who said she has been surfing couches and hotel rooms since hot tempers resulted in her leaving her parents' home.

She has been applying for jobs but found nothing, she said.

"It's very stressful," Eberle said. "I sit and wonder, what am I going to do next?"

Candi Wilcox, 48, said she has been homeless for about four years.

Although her own family refuses to help because she is a lesbian, she said during a visit to Fresh Start, she has found another support system.

Calling herself the street mother, she tries to look out for the homeless teenagers she often sees, she said.

"Just emotional support. If I had a place, they would be there," she said. "Some parents just throw their kids away."

People are still getting help.

A $500,000 grant received through HPRP (Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing) federal stimulus funds helped more than 400 families out of homeless situations between October 2009 and the end of 2010, said Conroy.

"The 2010 Point in Time survey was around 600 (homeless). That's almost all of them," Conroy said, adding that the funds provided food, utility assistance, rental assistance and putting folks into permanent housing. "That's huge."

There are setbacks, though, he said.

The 3-year grant is projected to only last two and a half years, he said.

"There are lots of services, but the money's running out, and the federal government is still working on the budget for 2012," he said. "I'm hoping there won't be any cuts in homeless prevention money."

He encouraged folks to still pursue programs through SVDP, especially at the HELP center where 19 service programs are provided by 14 government agencies and nonprofits.

Monetary and thrift store donations, as always, are also encouraged, he said.

"There are some great things going on," he said. "We all know the statistics, we all know the numbers and the unemployment rate. But there are amazing things going on. People are getting helped."