The man squinted into his cap and slowly counted the change inside. Then he picked up his bag and bed roll and made his way somewhere.

While Portland’s waterfront has developed into a tourist destination, it is still filled with nooks and crannies where the homeless can gather away from the crowds. But these meeting places often are rotting wharfs, out-of-the-way piers and slippery rocky ledges.

The homeless like to gather at these less-crowded places by the waterfront in the summer to escape the heat. In the winter, they seek the industrial waterfront because there are good opportunities for shelter there.

Often, these places are unsafe at the best of times, let alone for unsteady individuals suffering from substance abuse or mental illness. This past summer, five intoxicated homeless men drowned in separate incidents off Portland’s waterfront. Some fell into the water; one drowned while swimming. Foul play is not suspected.

The cluster of deaths alarmed the Portland police, who reached out to area homeless advocates to brainstorm ways to keep the homeless safe.

“Drownings certainly happened over the years, but not in close proximity to each other,” said Josh O’Brien, director of the Oxford Street Shelter for Men in Portland.

Portland police and homeless service providers gathered in September to find ways to improve safety along the waterfront. The police pledged to step up waterfront patrols. Service providers held an early-morning breakfast to reach out to the homeless, asking them to look out for each other and be safe.

Police and advocates also are asking waterfront business owners and dock workers to keep an eye on the homeless that are near the water. They’re telling concerned waterfront workers that there are alternatives to calling the police if they’re worried for someone’s safety.

“A lot of the time the guys at the waterfront don’t want to get the [homeless] in trouble,” said Rob Parritt, assistant director of the Oxford Street Shelter for Men. “They don’t want to get the police involved.”

Instead, they’re being urged to call the Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement Team (HOME). Created by the Milestone Foundation in Portland this spring, HOME is a rapid response team of health care workers and homeless advocates who can help homeless individuals find shelter and services without necessarily involving the law. Team members can also suggest ways for homeless individuals who are acting inappropriately or unsafely to change their behavior so they won’t get arrested or hurt.

Portland Police community services director Lieutenant Janine Roberts also hopes to convince more waterfront property owners to post “No Trespassing” signs to give police more legal basis to intervene and bring people to shelters before accidents might happen.

Incidents of homelessness have been increasing throughout the state with the recession. The number of homeless often is hard to pinpoint, but a January 2010 survey showed 325 individuals reported themselves homeless in Portland, up from just over 300 two years ago.

That figure should be considered low, as the number of homeless swells in the summertime. Don Gean, executive director for York County Shelter Programs Inc. south of Portland reports that his county’s shelters report the highest numbers in July.

While homeless shelters in York County and in Brunswick take in some of Portland’s homeless overflow, homeless advocates report that many homeless people seek out the streets of Portland. Some of those who gravitate to the city are considered the “chronic homeless,” individuals who have had prolonged problems with mental illness and/or substance abuse.

There is a perception that there are more services in Portland, even though programs outside of the city, like in York County, have extensive transitional housing and mental illness services available.

Homeless service providers must strike a careful balance in reaching out to the homeless along Portland’s waterfront, said Oxford Street’s Parritt. The homeless have congregated between the rotten piers of Portland’s waterfront because they felt chased out of the commercial district. This year’s outreach effort must be gentle; otherwise the homeless will go further underground to more dangerous places.

“If we bother them too much, they’re going to go somewhere else out of sight,” said Parritt.