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By Jeff Hansel

The Post-Bulletin 

Tyler Tottingham, 19, has come to the Salvation Army lunch with a sort of puppy comforter; a black Lab named Meeka.

Tottingham, of Kasson, generally catches rides to and from Rochester so he can get work as a roofer. He holds the dog much like a security blanket.

"She sleeps in my shirt with me all the time," he says. "I love dogs. I'm a really big dog fan." Nobody at Salvation Army pays much attention to the fact that he's brought a dog to lunch, as volunteers prepare to serve the 50 or so people who stream in at noon Monday through Friday.

The service is intended for people who can't afford to buy lunch, including the homeless population. But not everyone served is homeless. Many have apartments and homes, but monthly expenses for rent, property taxes and other basic needs take up to 90 percent of their income, leaving little left over for food and other necessities.

There may be more people living on the edge of homelessness in Rochester and surrounding communities than people living in the woods, in parks, under bridges and on benches.

Tottingham says on this mid-May afternoon that he's living with his parents "just for now." He catches rides to work sites with family or friends.

When there's bad weather, he sometimes can't get a ride back to Kasson.

"I either stay over at my sister's house, or I stay at a friend's house," he says. There have been times when Tottingham had no place to go. Then, he says, he will "either just walk around all night, or sit in a motel lobby -- or I've gone to the ER and just sit there all night."

Meals and beds

Every night in Rochester, up to 37 homeless people seek shelter and a meal at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House, a shelter for homeless people, and the Interfaith Hospitality Network. The Salvation Army in Rochester also offers transitional housing to homeless families. In 2005, these three organizations provided more than 6,000 nights of lodging and 38,000 meals to more than 1,200 homeless men, women and children.