Charlotte's only emergency shelter for women and children, with a dozen people already sleeping on the floor, could start turning away the needy if it can't find money to keep its overflow facility open after this month.

The Salvation Army's Center of Hope needs $240,000 to keep the 50-bed overflow shelter going one more year, when two other nonprofits are expected to open expanded shelters for homeless women.

A donor has agreed to provide the Salvation Army with a third of the money, if the agency can cobble together the rest from other sources by the end of June. The Salvation Army hopes to raise another third through a public campaign and get the rest from the United Way.

As of now, however, the agency's overflow shelter at Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church will run out of money May 31. If it closes, the 50 women staying there would move to the Center of Hope - which would make it too crowded to accept new admissions, said director Deronda Metz.

"If we have no more bed space and already have people sleeping on the floors, there is no other option," Metz said. "That is very dangerous for the women."

The 224-bed center is already 115 people over capacity, and some residents must leave before others can be accepted, Metz said.

Nearly half of the 339 being housed are children, which is indicative of the county's 36 percent jump in homeless families last year. Overall homelessness, including single men, jumped 14 percent last year. The Men's Shelter of Charlotte reported an average of 550 men per night in April, which is about 50 more men per night than it budgeted for the year.

The overflow shelter costs about $20,000 a month to operate. Raising a portion of the money would keep the overflow shelter going a while longer, but wouldn't solve the problem of what to do with the women until the expanded shelters open next year.

Women at the overflow shelter range in age from 19 to 65, including some who have jobs but still can't afford rent.

An example is Yvette, 50, who prefers not to give her full name. She was laid off last spring and evicted shortly after, bringing her to the shelter in June.

The Center of Hope helped her find a $9-an-hour job, and she's worried that losing a bed at the overflow shelter will undermine her goal for a more stable life.

"I never thought I'd find myself in this kind of situation, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Yvette said. "Every woman in here has a different reason for being homeless, but we all want the same thing: to get out and back on our feet."

The Center of Hope opened the overflow shelter in September after being offered space in a building on the campus of Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church on East Fifth Street. Because it serves single women, it's frees up space in the Center of Hope for more families.

So far, 320 different women have stayed at the Caldwell facility, officials said. It was meant to be open only 10 weeks. But consistent need led to multiple extensions and finally a plan to keep the beds active until Charlotte Rescue Mission and United Family Services completed expanded shelter projects next year.

If the overflow shelter closes, the 50 women living there will be allowed to sleep on the floor of the Center of Hope until they find homes. The center's staff is wary of that solution, noting crowding prompts conflict, health problems and more calls for ambulances and police.

The center remains hopeful it can raise the money though a combination of sources. Besides the donor that offered to provide a third if the Salvation Army can raise the remainder, Metz's plan calls for a public-awareness campaign, aimed at collecting another third through donations from individuals and companies. The remaining third she hopes will come from United Way. Metz recently made an appeal to the agency for an additional $75,000 next year, specifically for the overflow shelter.

It's an iffy prospect, given that this year's United Way campaign is running more than $2 million shy of its goal.

It will be June before the Center of Hope knows whether it will get the extra United Way money.