Saraé Bolden is among the nearly 1,000 low-income folks who this week packed Hennepin County homeless facilities, which are near capacity this spring.

She wants out.

So on Monday, Bolden joined about 2,500 other homeless or near-homeless people at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which was transformed into a mega-service center offering everything from free dental extractions to voice-mail services.

"I got laid off two months ago, and it's been really hard to find work,'' said Bolden, 26. "I came here today to get my son to a dentist and to get help finding housing or work.''

Bolden represents the trends emerging at these unusual "Project Homeless Connect'' events that take place at the convention center twice a year. For starters, lots of people now rely on these social service blitzes for basic needs, such as dental and medical care.

By early afternoon, for example, 200 people had signed up for tooth extractions. Said one patient, Willie Bunton, awaiting his turn for anesthesia: "I've waited two years for this.''

In addition, many attendees are newly laid-off workers. But the "employment area'' this year had to be transformed into a job-search room with computers instead of a job interview room.

"Last year, we had 30 employers available,'' said Cathy ten Broeke, coordinator of Hennepin County's efforts to end homelessness. "Today we had two. The jobs just aren't there. That's why we've got so many people here.''

Services that initially were designed for homeless people now also are being tapped by people on the verge of losing their homes, organizers said. Hence the boom in attendance, jumping from 500 in 2006 to nearly 2,500 this year.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. When Project Homeless Connect was launched, homelessness was at a near-record low in Hennepin County. The number of unduplicated families using family shelters, for example, had dropped from 1,800 in 2000 to 888 families in 2006, said Pat Mack, a county human resource manager.

But then the trend line changed.

"We saw 888 families in 2006 spending 27,558 nights in shelter,'' said LuAnn Schmaus, a spokeswoman for Hennepin County. "In 2008, we saw 1,251 families who stayed 47,531 nights. In other words, more families spending longer time in shelter.''

Shelters are at capacity or near capacity "almost every night now,'' she said.

As counties across the state struggle to deal with a growing homeless population, Project Homeless Connect finds that the demand for its services reflects the reasons people are losing their jobs and homes.

Take, for example, legal assistance. About 280 people lined up in the hallways Monday to get some free legal advice in a makeshift legal clinic with "offices'' divided by black curtains.

The top requests dealt with criminal record expungements, child-support modifications and consumer debt, said Jodie Boderman, pro bono coordinator from Faegre & Benson.

Another new and popular service: free photos. Bolden was among a crowd of people waiting in line for a rare chance to get a free professional portrait.

"The last picture I have of my son, he's 6 months old; he's 2 now,'' Bolden said. "I just want to remember what an amazing age this is.''

Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511