For herself, she stayed on the streets, walking all over Center City, never sleeping.
At 6:30 Tuesday morning, Goodman went immediately to the Appletree Family Center, the cheery name for the city's main intake office for homeless families, at 15th and Cherry Streets in Center City.
But when the staff opened the doors at 9, they delivered the same news: no beds.
"They just tell me there's nothing they could do," Goodmond said as she sat outside a Center City sandwich shop with her son, who was smiling and eating grapes in his stroller. "They're giving me nowhere to go."
Advocates for the homeless say that the city's shelters for families always fill up in the summer, but that this year, that seems to be happening sooner than usual.
Marsha Cohen, an attorney for the Homeless Advocacy Project, which provides free legal help to homeless individuals, said mothers with children could often double up with friends or relatives during the school year. But once summer arrives, they either choose to leave difficult situations or are forced out.
She said the spike in homeless families this summer was most likely a reflection of the poor economy. "I've heard 10 horror stories in the last week."
Cohen said a father and his 10-year-old son were sleeping at the 69th Street bus terminal. In another case, a mother with an infant and two children were placed in a shelter, but there weren't enough beds for everyone. The 5-year-old slept with his mother, while the 4-year-old was sent to stay with a relative.
Nationally, the number of homeless families is rising. In the annual report to Congress on homelessness released Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the number of homeless families has increased 20 percent from 2007 to 2010.
HUD also reported that the proportion of homeless families in shelters or transitional housing has increased from 30 percent to 35 percent during the same period.
