COEUR d'ALENE - The same week of a community meeting where some advocated for the relocation of the homeless service center, Fresh Start reported an increase in clients.

Through March 2011, the east Sherman drop-in center had served 741 unduplicated homeless individuals, a 23 percent increase from the year before. The outreach center had also provided 13,268 services, a 38 percent jump.

"We see it every day here, more people than we had last year," said Howard Martinson, Fresh Start executive director.

Through March, the nonprofit has had 4,029 client visits, a 7 percent bump from 2010 and a 357 percent rise from 2009.

The reason for the increase is up for speculation, Martinson said.

"Maybe Fresh Start being better known, possibly more homeless people," he said. "I think the increase is in families, displaced due to the poor economy, and transients, people passing through town."

About 30 percent of clients are families, he added.

The volunteer-run center, located at 1524 E. Sherman, has managed to meet the higher demand for its services like showers, food, laundry, Internet and phone use.

"We're very busy, but we're keeping up with it," Martinson said.

The nonprofit is sensitive, he added, to recent complaints of Fresh Start clients harassing neighboring businesses and residents.

Identified troublemakers are banned from Fresh Start, he said, but the center can't control how individuals behave outside the nonprofit's operating hours from 7:30 a.m. to noon.

"What they do after hours is way beyond our scope to supervise or to handle," Martinson said.

These issues will be discussed at an upcoming board meeting, said Rev. Pat Bell, president of the Fresh Start board.

Board members will be reviewing Fresh Start's mission statement and its goals for helping homeless clients, he said.

"One of the things we'll be looking very seriously at is questioning how we can support the folks who are coming in, and ways that they can really take on a bit more responsibility for their own lives," he said.

The board also wants to discuss how to create longevity in its homeless outreach, Bell added, even if not always out of its current location.

"Just in terms of planning, in the future, how we can maintain support for homeless families in this area that will continue on," he said.

Fresh Start is always in need of donations of everyday items, which include shaving cream, disposable razors, paper plates and cups.

The nonprofit is also asking for donations of gently used items for its garage sale fundraiser next weekend, which will help cover rent and utilities.

Folks can drop off items for the fundraiser at Fresh Start during its operating hours, or at Runge Furniture's parking lot late Thursday or early Friday.

The sale is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, at Runge Furniture, 303 E. Spokane Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

"We certainly appreciate the community support," Martinson said.