In Baltimore County, the region's most populous jurisdiction, applications for utility help are running 24 percent ahead of last year.
"We're seeing a huge surge in applications coming in with people having turnoff notices, and some of the bills are enormous," said Harriet Hertz, director of the county's home energy assistance program.
The surge has caused a monthlong backlog in providing help, though Hertz said her office can obtain 55-day extensions from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to buy time.
Another county program that provides emergency financial assistance has seen such a rise in demand that grants had to be cut from $500 to $300 to avoid running out of money. Recipients include those who have lost jobs but have not yet begun receiving unemployment benefits.
Increasingly, county officials say, people have to cobble together what they can from various sources.
The state's budget crunch has had a domino effect on staffing levels at the county Department of Social Services, which is run jointly with the state. The agency has not been able to fill some vacancies, leaving 16 percent of positions open.
"We're not able to keep up with all the requests for assistance," said director Timothy Griffith. By late October, 3,000 applications for help of various kinds had been pending longer than a month.
To ease the backlog, the Baltimore County Council has approved temporary staffing and overtime. It also greenlighted a budget transfer so two nonprofit groups can hire housing counselors. People have been waiting three months on average between getting a mortgage default notice and seeing a counselor.
At Catholic Charities, the crushing demand for utility and rental assistance has drained the Samaritan Center's allotment, which was meant to last through winter. Now callers are being referred elsewhere.
"Most people are going to three, four, five different places to try to get the funds and are not always able to find it," lamented Mary Anne O'Donnell, director of community services.
In October, donations of casseroles for the food program at Our Daily Bread dropped so low that supplies nearly ran out for the first time in 27 years. A public appeal has reversed that this month, much to the relief of agency officials.
And a steady stream of job seekers has flowed into the employment center at Our Daily Bread. The center, which has counselors and banks of computers, has seen better-educated people lately, a sign that jobs are being lost higher up the ladder.
