BLOOMINGTON - The current economic downturn likely is squeezing John Hudson of Bloomington more than most folks. | Photo gallery

He's disabled with a pancreatic disease and other medical problems that eventually may claim his life, he said. He lives in subsidized housing on a fixed income of a few hundred dollars a month.

Still, Hudson said he's blessed. During tough times like these, he feels sorrier for people who have more money than he has.

"I feel the crunch. I know other people are feeling it, too, especially if they have kids," he said. "But I've always been poor. I know how to live within my means. I don't let anything get me down. It's the people who live beyond their means who are really hurting," he said. "Those are hurting real bad."

Hudson, 53, spoke recently as he sat on the front porch at Clare House food pantry, one of several Twin City social service agencies getting stretched to the limit as lines for groceries and other services are growing by the week.

Rarely away from home, Hudson makes sure he shows up at the pantry at 703 E. Washington St., Bloomington, at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. He claims his one sack of canned food and cereal and maybe some boxed macaroni and Jell-O. Sometimes, toilet paper or other personal items are in his bag.

"This place is great," Hudson said. "It gives you toothpaste, things you need. In Chicago, they don't have places like this. If you don't eat in this town, you aren't hungry. If you don't find it here, you don't want it."

Lines getting longer

Clare House volunteers give out half-filled containers of milk as long as they last to young women with small children or grandparents raising grandchildren. The milk never lasts long enough. Others in the line get baby formula and small bags of diapers.

"The lines got longer about three weeks ago," said Tina Sipula, who founded Clare House as part of the Catholic Worker Movement, which began 75 years ago when journalist-turned-social worker Dorothy Day began feeding the poor in New York City during the Great Depression. "The line looks like Christmas."

The image of the winter holiday in May might spark joy in some people.

But Sipula was gloomy as she described how the food line doesn't usually double in size until just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Spring hasn't yet turned to summer, and she's worried.

"It was a Wednesday," she said recalling the first time she noticed the unseasonable demand begin to soar. "It was like holiday time. The line was down the street and around the corner. We normally run 70 to 80 people. Now, we're close to 100. And it was not a one-time deal."

Capt. Scott Shelbourn is serving as many as 30 percent more people at the Salvation Army in Bloomington.

"We have limited funds to help people out, and we're getting more requests than ever. We can only help people out so much," he said.

Shelbourn is accustomed to hearing people ask for a little cash to help pay their rent. But in a recent first, people arrived at the agency asking for money to pay home mortgages.

Last week, Illinois reported a record number of families were eligible for food stamps - 592,390 households, up 3.7 percent over last year.

Shelbourn noted the spike in food and gasoline prices couldn't have come at a worse time. Spring is usually when people need help to catch up on heating bills that went unpaid during winter. Utility companies can't stop service while the weather is cold, but shut-off notices start to arrive in March. They continue showing up in mailboxes through May. Switches get turned off beginning April 1.

"They are cramped," Shelbourn said. "Rent is probably due, and they might be a month or two behind. They might have a $1,000 electric bill. On top of that, grocery bills have gone up. All those things are piling on people who would be considered working poor living right at the poverty line."

Like Hudson.

"Why does this stuff keep going up?" asked Hudson, whose medical bills are paid in part by the government. But some drugs aren't covered, and he still must shell out co-payments for some prescriptions. Between himself and Uncle Sam, the cost may total $700 a month, he said. "Everything keeps jumping up, jumping up, jumping up."

Uncertainty over donations

Donations to Clare House peak during the holiday season, when most local charities launch their annual drives for contributions. Sipula, who thought she had enough food until the 2008 appeal in November, isn't so certain now. Like other food pantries, she hopes smaller drives like last weekend's collection by the National Association of Letter Carriers will help get her by.

Meanwhile, more people also are showing up at the Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen that Clare House operates at lunch time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Bloomington. Sipula blames the higher cost of food such as sugar and flour for causing her sources for baked goods to dry up. The commercial businesses that once gave her their extras every day have cut back on what they make to cut costs, she said. There are no surpluses any more.

The situation is similar at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Bloomington, where demand for food is up 10 percent over last year. The pantry is officially open once a week, on Monday. With rising demand, volunteers encourage people to come just once a month to stretch supplies. Still, some people visit more often, and volunteers pass on what they can from donations from the church and elsewhere.

"We don't ask them why they're there; … we just give them food. We figure they wouldn't be coming if they didn't need it," pantry manager Lee Doyle said. "We are seeing quite a few new people coming to the pantry right now. They had to use their food money to get their electricity turned on. We've seen quite a bit of that."

Anita Gant was one of the new people in line at Clare House one recent Wednesday. She came after Hudson, who lives in her apartment building, volunteered to "show her the ropes." The 40-year old woman has been unemployed for two years since she lost a job at a Caterpillar supplier in Morton after she lost her driver's license.

A past marked by brushes with the law makes finding a job that much harder, she said. Recently, she was named foster parent for her great-nephew, a newborn. She needs the food from Clare House for herself and the baby, she said. She receives a few hundred dollars a month from the state for caring for the infant, plus a similar amount from other government programs and food stamps.

"My goal every day now is for the baby," said Gant, who has fallen behind on her rent by a month or two.

Because she had a friend to guide her, Gant didn't appear out of place like some other newcomers in the Clare House food line, said Hudson, who's noticed more new faces showing up every time groceries are given out.

"It used to be a short line. Now, it goes around the corner," he said. "I can always tell people who haven't been here before. They're uncomfortable, they look around, and they're always well groomed.

"Welcome to reality."

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How to help

Clare House

Location: 703 E. Washington St., Bloomington

Donations: Accepts food donations year-round from 9 to 11 a.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday

Food pantry distribution: 1 p.m. Wednesday and Friday

Soup kitchen: Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen operates at lunchtime Tuesday and Thursday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 527 W. Jackson St., Bloomington

More information: (309) 828-4035

Salvation Army

Location: 611 W. Washington St., Bloomington; Safe Harbor homeless shelter at 212 N. Roosevelt St., Bloomington.

Food pantry distribution: 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday; there are some income guidelines

More information: (309) 829-9476 or visit www.sabloomington.org

St. Vincent de Paul Society

Location: 711 N. Main St., Bloomington (Holy Trinity Catholic Church Parish Center)

Donations: Accepts food from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday

Food pantry distribution: Same hours Monday

More information: (309) 829-9611 or (309) 829-2197 to arrange a different drop-off time at the church.

Home Sweet Home Ministries

Location: 303 E. Oakland Ave., Bloomington; Billy Shelper Center at same address

Donations: Accepts food at the center's front desk reception area seven days per week, 24 hours a day

Meals: Serves three meals daily to residents; walk-ins welcome. Also distributes more than 450

emergency food boxes annually.

More information: (309) 828-7356 or visit www.hshministries.org

SOURCES: Clare House; Salvation Army; St. Vincent de Paul; www.hshministries.org