SANFORD — She lives in a homeless shelter in the next town over. He lives in a tent in the woods near a residential area of Sanford, even on most of the cold, bone-shivering nights.

They and others came to be counted Wednesday, and to take home a warm jacket, some gloves, perhaps a warm blanket, a ditty bag full of toiletries, and to drink some hot coffee and eat some hot pizza.

It was all welcome. And when it’s 20 degrees outside, hot coffee and pizza are especially welcome.

The two are among York County’s homeless population. They were among those counted Wednesday in Sanford and in Biddeford for the Point in Time survey. Results this morning inicate there are 27 homeless men and women within the two communities; those results will be sent on to the federal government, which dispenses grant money to agencies that provide services to the homeless based on how many there are.

The woman who lives at the York County Shelter in Alfred didn’t want to give her name. She said she’s there because she came out of prison with no services. She didn’t want to go to the shelter, but it is her only option these days. The woman finished 18 months of incarceration at the state’s Reentry Center in Alfred, but with post-traumatic depression, she said the center’s job program just didn’t work out for her. The woman said she’s camped out in the past, but was glad to have shelter on these cold nights.

His story has some similarities. He, too, came out of prison, and said he came to Sanford to be near his son. But he had a disagreement with his child’s mother and found himself out in the cold just about a year ago.

James Purcell said he’s lived in a tent in the woods behind York Street for quite a while, and he’s not the only one. Between that campsite and others ”“ in places off of Berwick Street, in the vicinity of the cemetery and perhaps in a few other nooks and crannies of Sanford ”“ Purcell estimated there are 40 to 45 people camping out on most nights.

Occasionally, when it’s particularly cold, like it was during the blizzard, he said he stops by a friend’s place and sleeps on a coach.

He said he volunteers at a local soup kitchen three days a week, and a fellow he knows offered him $20 to shovel off a couple of small roofs Wednesday. The money helped, especially because his campsite was robbed a week ago. Just about everything he had was taken, he said.

Purcell said he slept in a vacant mill on River Street for part of last winter, sustaining frostbite to his feet. He pointed to his boots.

“The police department gave me a sleeping bag and these boots,” he said. The sleeping bag was among the items stolen.

He moved to the woods May 1.

When asked how he stays warm, he replied, “Lots of blankets.”

Purcell and Jason Rattelis struck up a friendship when they met at the soup kitchen, and Rattelis was at the count Wednesday to support his friend. He said Purcell occasionally comes to his home for a shower, coffee and food, or to stay on the couch when the weather is particularly bad.

Allen Foley, who is a member of the VFW, DAV, Marine Corps League and a group that advocates for homeless veterans, said the homeless ”“ veterans and non-veterans alike ”“ are a segment of society that goes unseen, for the most part.

“They’re the invisible society that no one seems to care about,” he said.

James Bachelder of the VFW, an advocate for veterans and the homeless, said a number of people should be thanked for contributing to the Point in Time effort, including Emily’s Wood Fired Pizza, the Marine Corps League, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW, the Vet Center, the York County chapter of the Maine Military and Community network and more ”“ such as Napa Auto Parts for lending its high-visibility Main Street parking lot.

He said the information volunteers gleaned on Wednesday will help provide an accurate count.

As well as the two mobile units, a couple of volunteers had planned to snowshoe to the trails Wednesday to see if they could find some more folks to count.

Both Purcell and the woman who lives at the shelter have checkered histories. She said she was convinced of drug trafficking, with her own prescription. Records show he was convicted in Lewiston in 2008 of unlawful sexual contact.

Staying at the shelter, the woman has a roof over her head, and now, she said, she’s fighting for medical coverage and disability.

He’s looking for a roof, too, and said he calls the Alfred shelter twice a week, but has had no luck. The Portland shelters are crowded, he said, and turning people away.

And it is still winter in Maine.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].