A year ago, the Men’s Emergency Drop-In Shelter on the Capitol Square was bursting at the seams with the homeless and displaced, harboring a record high of 152 men one night in January.

Record high intakes were matched by record lows in temperature during the first week of February, when I covered the increase in shelter use in ?A place called home.?

The trend of increased use, however, continued in warmer weather, as well. Officials and service workers cited increased poverty and a lack of affordable housing and government aid as possible factors.

Since last winter, the numbers have declined: The shelter has been serving 115 to 120 men on an average night this winter, compared to 130 to 150 last year, according to Steve Schooler, the executive director of Porchlight, Inc., which runs the shelter.

?That?s something our system?s set up to handle,? Schooler said.

Schooler wasn?t sure of the causes of the downturn in numbers, but he noted a new housing program run by Porchlight has moved 40 homeless people into permanent housing. In addition, media coverage has resulted in heightened awareness of homelessness, he said. But the shelter is nevertheless operating at a deficit of $70,000.

?I?m not sure there is a greater amount of commitment to solutions,? Schooler said.