Reports from two local shelters reflect an increase in the number of homeless individuals in the Carbondale area.

The Good Samaritan Ministries and the Women’s Center, which are both local shelters that help those in need by providing shelter, food and emergency assistance, have seen an increase in services provided to homeless individuals.

Mike Heath, executive director at Good Samaritan Ministries, said he believes that the increase in people seeking refuge is because of unemployment rates.

Heath said the increased number of people using the ministry’s facilities has occurred because the number of unemployed individuals has risen since last year.

Illinois’ 2013 unemployment rate is at 9.2 percent, up from 8.9 percent in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We’ve noticed a difference in the people who come,” he said. “They’re better dressed. They have nicer cars. So, they’ve had jobs but they’re out of work.”

He said the ministry has noticed an increase in the number of people seeking aid in all areas of the ministry such as the transitional housing, food pantry, soup kitchen and emergency shelter, but the largest increase was in emergency assistance, a one-time aid given to qualified patrons who need temporary financial support.

Between 2011 and 2012, the ministry has seen a 300 percent increase in the number of people seeking emergency assistance.

Increases in requested assistance in the area has also affected the Women’s Center in Carbondale.

The Women’s Center provides a safe place for homeless women and children to stay for up to 90 days. The individuals who seek refuge are often homeless because they are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, Cathy McClanahan, executive director of the Women’s Center, said.

McClanahan said domestic violence is the No. 1 reason women and children are homeless in the country.

“Once women are in the shelter, you find out that they did just get kicked off their sisters couch, but they have a history of domestic violence that led them onto that path of homelessness,” she said.

In the past five years, the number of adults and children using the facility each year has increased from 824 to 1,013, according to the Women’s Center database. McClanahan said the amount of homeless individuals seeking assistance has increased to the point that the center created a waiting list for the first time in its history.

While the number of homeless individuals and families is increasing, the Women’s Center and the Good Samaritan Ministries will work together to end homelessness and help those in need within the community, Heath said.

“We try to work out what is best for each individual by working together,” he said.