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Charities, Social Service See Effects Of Economy

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

TAMPA - More battered women and people in desperate financial straits are seeking aid from local social service agencies as the economy nosedives, local experts say.

The 102-bed domestic-violence shelter The Spring of Tampa Bay has been running at 90 percent occupancy the last month or so, compared with an average of 75 percent occupancy in 2007, officials there said. The shelter assisted more than 200 people in September, compared with 1,100 for all of 2007.

"We're seeing people come in very badly beaten," said Joanne Olvera Lighter, the shelter's president and chief executive officer.

Lighter said she thinks the country's uncertainty – marked by the high cost of food and gas, unemployment and the troubled real-estate market – has ratcheted stress levels in already tense households and could feed a "lack of control and power."

"The brutality may become greater because the batterers won't lash out at work," Lighter said. "Families living in a highly controlled environment may get beaten because the price of gas is up."

The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which refers callers from its 211 hot line link to resources for abuse, addiction, unemployment, health care, transportation and other needs, also has noticed an influx of people seeking help. The hot line received an average of 7,492 calls per month from January to July but 9,194 in August and 8,810 for September through Sept. 22, the most recent data available, statistics show.

From Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 22, the hot line received 29,640 calls from people requesting financial assistance such as food stamps, Medicaid, baby items and help paying rent, mortgage or utilities, statistics show. That is a 19 percent increase from 24,878 callers requesting financial help the previous fiscal year.

Hot line staff members have noticed increased desperation among anxious callers turned away from other philanthropic agencies whose budgets are dwindling, said Carissa Caricato, a crisis center spokeswoman.

The center has received about 50 applications daily for a family support program where families receive a one-time payment for rent, mortgage, utilities or food, Caricato said. However, with less than $10,000 available to fund the program this year, hundreds of those applications will go unfilled, she said.

"It's very sad," Caricato said. "We got over 200 applications last week -- and hundreds we're still trying to fill."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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