But Karen McReynolds, acting director of the Homeless Coalition, said the blueprint is not forgotten.

"The blueprint is a living, breathing document," she said. "People have been working on it in different bits and pieces because of the great disconnect between people and services."

Earlier this year, Mayor Ron Littlefield proposed building a homeless services complex on the former Farmers' Market site on East 11th Street. His proposal, he maintained, would provide a more coordinated and cost-effective response to homelessness and address some of the blueprint's shortfalls, particularly on funding.

"The blueprint would require substantially more resources," Mr. Littlefield said. "There is a sunset on all sources of revenue. Programs come and go, and when you tie your response to a federal funding source, your hands are tied."

Mr. Littlefield said federal grants have become harder to obtain.

Repeated attempts to reach Philip Mangano, the head of the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Bush administration's top homeless policy expert who was in Chattanooga to tout the 10-year blueprint, were unsuccessful.

The mayor said his proposed center would serve as an intake center for homeless people, who then could gain access to caregivers and case managers, along with permanent housing agents through the Chattanooga Housing Authority.

"To some extent, we'll have temporary shelter, but the main intent is to create an intake and triage area," Mr. Littlefield said. "That's some of what the blueprint calls for -- an efficient way to get people through bureaucracy."

Not all homeless advocates and service providers are on board, however.

Critics of the mayor's proposal have said it does not focus enough on permanent supportive housing where the homeless have immediate access to rental housing while case workers monitor their progress with mental health care, substance abuse treatment and employment.

Chattanooga's homeless population is about 4,300, with about 625 described as chronically homeless, according to estimates by support agencies.

The Fortwood program was designed as a pilot project to demonstrate how the blueprint could work.

Mary Simons, who was a member of the city steering committee that put together the blueprint and is now an independent consultant, said the city should have sought funding to continue the program.

"It seems to be a shift of priorities at the local level," Ms. Simons said. "Looking at a shelter is just putting a Band-Aid on the issue. We could get a whole lot more done if everyone was on the same page."

"A HELPING HAND UP"

Fortwood's aim with the grant was to put 50 chronically homeless Chattanoogans into permanent housing and provide them with intensive care for mental illness or substance abuse.

Three years ago, the agency received half of the $2.6 million federal grant initially and an additional $400,000, said Dot Stevens, Fortwood's director of services.

The rest of the grant went to several other local agencies, including the Housing Authority, the Homeless Health Care Center, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise and the Homeless Coalition.

A formerly homeless woman in her 40s, who asked that she not be identified, said the Fortwood program saved her life.

After losing her job at a Knoxville Wal-Mart, she found herself living in her car parked near the Chattanooga Red Cross. She used a portable toilet on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus for a bathroom and ate at the Community Kitchen.

The woman said she was on Fortwood's waiting list for nine months before being placed in a one-bedroom basement apartment and receiving counseling for depression. She has lived in her apartment for over a year.

"I just needed a helping hand up," she said.

But Fortwood's funding for the services ran out Sept. 30.

Janna Jahn, a former city official who later worked for the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness, said the grant funding was only supposed to be seed money.

"It was never intended to be recurring (federal) funding," said Ms. Jahn, who helped draft the blueprint under Mayor Bob Corker's administration. "In other communities that undertook this, they were able to go out and advocate for additional funding. There are funds from other sources that, once you prove this works, can step up to the plate and say, 'We've got to invest in this.'"

Ms. Stevens said Fortwood attempted to contact the mayor's office and other county and state officials for additional funding but found that nothing was available.

Mr. Littlefield said that is news to him.

"No one at Fortwood has called me," the mayor said. "I want to know what happened."

About 65 people went through some part of the Fortwood program before funding ended, said Ms. Stevens.

Those of the original group who are still in permanent housing can remain in their homes through renewable vouchers from the Chattanooga Housing Authority. All have been transferred to TennCare or veterans' organizations for supportive services.

The Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency has started a similar program to Fortwood's, but services will be paid for through existing local service funds, said Ms. Simons, who works with the agency. The SETHRA program provides 100 housing vouchers, 50 of which are subcontracted through the Chattanooga Housing Authority.

The SETHRA program received a $1 million grant from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development in 2005 but has gotten under way only recently.

So far, 11 people have been housed, Ms. Simons said.

MAYOR: ONE-STOP SHOP FOR EFFICIENCY

Mr. Littlefield argues his Farmers' Market complex would better manage the limited resources available and create an efficient processing center to ensure homeless people get the services they need. There, the Housing Authority can help them gain access to permanent housing, while service providers would be centrally located in a one-stop shop, he said.

"The people who are against my plan and keep citing the blueprint basically want dozens of case workers driving around town," the mayor said. "That's not going to happen."

David Eichenthal, who also helped draft the blueprint under Mr. Corker's administration, disagreed. He said the blueprint's research shows transitioning chronically homeless people to permanent housing quickly while surrounding them with services "mainstreams" them more quickly.

"There needn't be an army of case workers," he said.

Neighbors of the Farmers' Market also are against the mayor's project and have signed a petition urging it be abandoned, saying the homeless services complex will bring increased crime and decreased property values, while failing to solve the homelessness problem.

Still, the mayor insists his homeless services complex will be the first step to an answer and says the project will not require significant city funds, though he has not issued a cost estimate. In total, $7.3 million is spent annually on homeless services in the region, according to the blueprint.

"I do think it's important for businesses to step up to the problem, but frankly, they've been scared off by the level of controversy," Mr. Littlefield said. "Hopefully they'll see that this is an effective and efficient way to realize the intentions of the blueprint."