The opening of several homeless shelters on O'ahu has eased demand on the venerable Institute for Human Services in Iwilei, allowing the agency to start refocusing resources on specific groups in need of help.

The number of single, adult men seeking emergency shelter at the Sumner Street facility dropped 14 percent during the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, said Connie Mitchell, IHS executive director.

The decrease, which follows a trend the institute has seen in recent years, will permit IHS to deliver more intensive and targeted services in areas where demand remains high, including help for women, families and former prisoners trying to re-enter the community, Mitchell said.

While a statistical analysis of IHS users over the last six years showed that the demand for shelter by women also had declined slightly last year, requests for shelter by families rose 22 percent. There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of Micronesian woman; in 2007, almost one-quarter of all women seeking shelter at the facility were of Micronesian descent, a 58 percent increase over 2006.

Among families served at the IHS Ka'aahi Family Shelter, more than 80 percent reported they were either Samoan or other Pacific Islanders, primarily Micronesian.

"We're responding to this need by developing more specialized case management for this emerging group of shelter guests with a focus on employment," Mitchell said.

IHS has added 10 bunk beds to increase capacity in its adult women's dorm, in part as a response to address the dramatic increase in help being sought by Micronesian women.

The decline in the number of single men seeking shelter at the facility is probably the result of several factors that are changing the way IHS and other service providers help the homeless in urban Honolulu.

Mitchell cited the opening last year of the Next Step shelter in Kaka'ako, the development of a new Barbers Point facility specifically for military veterans and significant federal funding that has helped move out many long-term IHS shelter dwellers who have serious mental health problems.

"Certainly the opening of the Next Step Shelter gives individuals a choice and has likely drawn some men who would normally turn to IHS," she said.

Darlene Hind, who heads the Waikiki Care-A-Van program said the two shelters offer different choices to the urban homeless. "The Next Step Shelter offers a place where you can leave your stuff during the daytime, and that appeals to a certain number of people," she said. "It's giving people a choice of where they want to seek help."

Mitchell and Hind say they believe there has been a migration of homeless from urban Honolulu to other parts of O'ahu. Possible explanations for the change include the city's closing of several parks for cleaning and the opening of the veterans' facility and another shelter in Leeward O'ahu.

"The specific drop in the number of male military veterans served (at IHS) is likely related to referrals to the facilities at Barbers Point operated by U.S. Vets," Mitchell said. Many of the veterans who used to seek shelter in IHS probably feel more comfortable in a facility run by a veterans group, she said.

Hind said that despite the apparent move by some to Leeward and Windward O'ahu, as well as the North Shore, her agency continues to serve about the same number of people in urban Honolulu. "We're constantly getting new people coming for our services. Our volume has actually increased, in part because we serve as the in-take monitors for the the Next Step Shelter," she said.

The shifting nature of the homeless population will allow IHS to take on new challenges, Mitchell said.

In the past year, the Iwilei facility has developed a new program to help former prisoners find shelter and develop skills to re-enter the working world, Mitchell said. "We are working on new programs to help that group so they don't find their way back to prison," she said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.