Hard economic times have even the helpers in need of help.

“The need is increasing, and the funding is decreasing,” says Cindy Smith, executive director of the Edisto Chapter of the American Red Cross. “It is hard for me to describe what it is like working for a nonprofit. Every day is extreme stress. We are struggling to survive.”

Large swimming pools placed directly under a 4-foot hole in the Red Cross’ Louis Street headquarters and a makeshift tarpaulin covering the hole where a large hardwood tree fell during a May windstorm are gaping reminders of the day-to-day financial struggles just to keep a roof over the agency. The hole was punched in the roof above the office space, causing the cracking and bowing of ceiling trusses.

The Edisto Chapter continues to search for funds to pay the insurance deductible of $2,500. About $800 had been raised through June 24; however, because of building code regulations, the Red Cross is searching for a temporary building.

Smith said the lack of funding has also forced the Red Cross to cut back on its already small staff, and she fears it’s just a matter of time before the agency closes and goes the way of other chapters nationally.

Ten years ago, she said, there were 3,000 Red Cross chapters. Today there are 741.

“We have survived the toughest times imaginable,” Smith said, noting the Red Cross started serving wounded soldiers on a battlefield. The courage of those founding members, she says, needs to be brought into play again. “Right now is the toughest time we have ever seen.”

Of course, natural and man-made disasters don’t end just because there is little funding.

“We have to respond,” Smith said, explaining how home fire cases have increased. “We get calls every day needing a fan or an air conditioner or to help pay for electricity bills and food bills. Rising gasoline prices are affecting everybody at every level.”

And then there is lack of funding to do traditional outreach programs such as swimming lessons designed to prevent drownings, finding shelter for the elderly in the summer heat and training people on the importance of seat belt and vehicle safety.

Smith said the Red Cross, which operates on an annual budget of $300,000 with minimal staff, typically has had no problem raising the money it needs. But as of June 24, she said, the agency had raised about $220,000 and is facing a budget shortfall.

At the Salvation Army, Capt. Tomeker Williams said calls related to assistance for rent and utilities have flooded the church offices, particularly over the past month and a half.

“It is a struggle to take care of family needs,” she said. “Some have medical issues, and some people just get behind.”

Williams said with school out for summer, many families are struggling to put food on the table to feed their children.

“Kids are out of school, so families are having to make sure they have breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Williams said, noting that in school the children would at least have breakfast and lunch taken care of. “Now with kids out of school, they are having to spend more money on groceries.”

Williams said summer giving this year is actually up by about $300 despite hard times.

But the church continues to have a number of appeals going out through the mail for help with the food pantry and with both financial and other donations.

“You just never know when folk will hit hard times,” Williams said.

She said she prays it will all work out.

“Orangeburg is an excellent community,” Williams said. “In the midst of this, people are still giving. First of all, they recognize there is a need, and they go a step forward and do something about it.”

Vertelle Pondexter-Jamison, Samaritan House chief operating officer, says in the last month the Middleton Street homeless shelter has seen a spike in applicants with about 10 to 15 additional coming in as the temperatures have heated up. The shelter, which normally holds about 30 people, had about 35 this past week.

She said while the shelter tends to see its needs increase in the summer, this year a lot of individuals who lost their jobs and are not able to pay their rent are finding themselves without a home and in need of assistance.

“The economy has had a lot to do with it,” Pondexter-Jamison said. “There have been a lot of layoffs, and some people have gotten caught up in it.”

She said because of the lack of space at the shelter, individuals, especially men, have had to be turned away.

“We tend to keep a full house of males,” she said. “We just don’t have the space.”

The shelter normally needs about $10,000 a month to match state grants, but for May, it raised about $1,500. Normally, it receives about $10,000 in both cash and in-kind donations a month, Pondexter-Jamison said.

June’s numbers are expected to be even lower, she said.

Beyond financial assistance, the shelter also needs medical supplies and clothing, Pondexter-Jamison said.

Like other charitable organizations that rely on the generosity of others, the shelter needs more financial help at a time when those who normally give need assistance themselves, she said.

“People have to take care of their own needs,” Pondexter-Jamison said. “The light bills are higher, and food is higher. Of course, it will affect everybody. The weather is hot, and they are burning the air conditioning more. Our bills have increased.”

She said there are many projects and repairs needed at the Samaritan House, such as painting the walls, fixing the washing machine and dryer and, just this week, getting a new motor for the shelter’s industrial stove.

In the meantime, Smith said the Red Cross will continue its 125-year legacy of providing humanitarian aid for as long as it can.

“I think the community wants a local presence and (believes) that they can count on this chapter,” Smith said. “The community has to decide if they want a local Red Cross.”

n T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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