COEUR d'ALENE - For Sara McDonald, being there counted.

The California native is the manager for the St. Vincent de Paul women's shelter, but that wasn't always the case.

She used to be out in the cold, with nowhere to turn - or so she thought.

"It's scary," she said, when she found herself without a place to live, until St. Vincent's took her in, and she worked her way back into the manager of the transitional shelter where she used to live. "You need a lot of love. There are a lot of resources, you just don't know it right away."

So standing in the cold Monday night during the nonprofit's annual candlelight vigil that pays tribute to Homeless Awareness Week, McDonald wouldn't be anywhere else.

"I've watched people get places to live and jobs; successes," she said. "I kind of feel like a little bit of a success story myself."

The event, running for a decade and held at Independence Point, was a reminder of the success stories, but also a reminder that more needs to be done.

The stereotype of the homeless face has shifted. No longer is it just the downtrodden. Regular families are finding themselves in need; people are losing jobs; and veterans, returning from tours of duty, are finding it more difficult to land on their feet.

"I don't think the community understands the magnitude of what we're experiencing," said Jeff Conroy, SVDP director.

Nearly 600 people were counted as homeless at the last count in January. Twenty percent nationally are military veterans. Locally, 80 percent aren't transplants. They're from here.

"The old dirty guy walking down the street with a bottle of wine in a paper bag isn't the new face of the problem," said Scott Rutherford, of SVDP. "It's families."

Around 100 people stood out in the dark during the brief memorial, which began a decade ago after a homeless man lost his life to freezing temperatures. St. Vincent's has been raising money all November, Homeless Awareness Month.

On Saturday, 178 runners took part in a 5K race to benefit the returning servicemen and women who might find themselves in need.

"Getting back into society isn't easy, or they don't know how," said Isaac Ochoa, who used to be homeless four years ago, but landed on his feet just like McDonald.

Ochoa read a poem in honor of the troops.

"There is a way, and they've earned this," he said.

Next up, is the nonprofit's "Souport the End of Homelessness" event Thursday at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. More than 30 soups are on hand from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for sampling and judging.

Every little bit helps: Each bit helps create success stories, like McDonald's and Ochoa's.

"That's why I continue to do what I do, the success stories," said Rutherford. "I love it."