Jill Tucker and Trisha Thadani:

Instead, only five families have used the facility at 23rd and Valencia streets in the Mission, with an average occupancy of less than two people per night, said Jeff Kositsky, director of the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

The facility is completely empty several nights each month, Kositsky said, although shelter workers are on-site seven nights a week and through holidays, whether anyone shows up or not. City officials and school leaders have proposed increasing the usage by allowing families from other schools to use the shelter.

On a cold, rainy evening earlier this week, a family of five showed up at the shelter just after 7 p.m. and got settled near the cots set up under the basketball hoops. The gym was warm and smelled of the ribs, salad and potatoes being served for dinner. A shower area was available in the back.

The three young children scampered into an adjacent classroom, where each grabbed a thick foam pad that they dragged onto the cots before hopping on their makeshift beds.

Staff at the shelter said they were expecting two more families that evening — the shelter is available from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. — but there was no sign of them by 7:30 p.m.