Photo by Bill Green Avery Kelly makes his bed for his first night at the Alan P. Linton Jr. Emergency Shelter, which opened for the season Thursday night. Kelly stayed at the shelter in the summer while working and participating in the Exodus Project, a program that provided shelter and support services to lift people out of homelessness and into independence. Kelly is hoping to find a place of his own soon.

A few months ago he was living with his wife and daughter in New Market . The house's pantry was as big as the cold-weather shelter's recreation room, he said.

He gave up his tent Thursday to stay overnight at the Alan P. Linton Jr. Emergency Shelter. The free 80-bed "hotel" on DeGrange Street opened for the winter and early spring. Tillman was one of dozens of men who took advantage of the accommodations.

"I've been sleeping in a tent for the past 10 weeks," he said.

Shelter director Milt Higgins said he expects the demand will be greater this year than last.

In the past three months the number of people applying for emergency assistance has increased 30 percent, said Sara Ryan, public relations and development manager for the Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs.

A man who sat next to Tillman said the number of people in the shelter was small compared with Frederick County's homeless population.

Tillman said he is homeless because he was banned from the house by his wife.

He said his homelessness is a fluke. He ran into the marriage too fast. Tillman said he met her on the Internet and moved here from Texas to marry her. They lived with his wife's parents.

"We were on food stamps because I didn't have a job," Tillman said. "I can't get food stamps now. I don't understand why when I was in a home I could get food stamps, and now I'm homeless and I don't."

A bed in the shelter beats sleeping in a tent, he said.

"Rain makes the tent damp and cold. Even with two sleeping bags it's like sleeping in a bag with water on the outside of it," he said.