While Americans hope, and many experts predict, that the recession is turning around and the economy heading upward, the head of one local agency dealing with poverty isn’t so optimistic.

Tom Lewis, CEO of Project O-Si-Yo, said demand for the shelter, which currently provides temporary housing for up to 15 homeless men, has grown more than expected. Based on preliminary reports he has seen from the latest U.S. Census figures, he expects more men to come to 118 W. Keetoowah looking for a place to spend the night, or a new start in life.

The new figures will be released shortly after Labor Day, Lewis said.

During the 2-1/2 years since Project O-Si-Yo began operating, more than 300 men 18 and older have found shelter there, spending more than 10,000 nights under its roof. The shelter began in a portion of the old Chickasaw Rooming House, moving to the building on Keetoowah in 2008.

The shelter was established because there was no temporary housing for single men in Cherokee County. Hope House provides space for families, women and children, while Help-in-Crisis shelters women and children who are victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse.

“We’ve had over a $2 million economic impact with the homeless population in Cherokee County so far,” Lewis said. “If it wasn’t for the participation of the community leaders, this would not be happening.”

Lewis said Census statistics show 17.8 percent of the people in Oklahoma’s 2nd District live in poverty, which amounts to 61,629 individuals. In Cherokee County, the poverty figures are even higher, according to Census estimates for 2005-2007.

Locally, 19.2 percent of all families have incomes under the poverty level. However, families in poverty with children in the household under 18 comprise 30.9 percent of the population; those with children under 5 amount to 42.3 percent.

And single mothers fare worse. Well more than half of all single mothers under 18, or 59.6 percent, live in poverty; counting mothers with children under five, those numbers exceed two-thirds, with 68.6 percent in poverty. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines show income levels of $10,830 for a single person, $14,570 for a two-person household, $18,310 for three people, and $22,050 for four.

While Lewis deals with single men, he’s also concerned about the statistics for women and children. And he anticipates the reported number of people living in poverty will increase when the new statistics are revealed.

“We’re predicting that overall, there will be an increase of almost 50 percent in the amount of people who are living in poverty conditions in Cherokee County,” he said.

He said the number of men seeking help at Project O-Si-Yo has more than doubled since a year ago. And most aren’t transients, just looking for a place to spend the night before moving on.

“The vast majority of them are local individuals, people with family in the Tahlequah or Cherokee County area,” he said.

Lewis has compiled data from a number of sources, including the Census, Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Before compiling this data, he was using statistics of 8,800 people in poverty in this area.