During a news conference last week that unveiled a new six-year, $8.6 million private partnership to support needy local families and individuals, the newly formed Hawaii Community Stabilization Initiative presented some very sobering statistics about the local impact of the global economic slump:

-- The number of people that rely on the state's supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as the food stamp program, has soared 41 percent to 129,536 during the past four years;

-- The Aloha United Way says inquiries from people seeking information about Hawaii's nonprofit food banks and food pantries are up 48 percent to 1,247 during the third quarter 2009 compared to two years ago;

-- The number of people seeking information about rental assistance from the AUW's referral lines jumped more than 81 percent during the past two year to 810 at the end of the third quarter;

-- Utility assistance inquiries with the AUW are up more than 62 percent to 122 over the past two years.

Wendy Burkholder, executive director for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii, which provides credit counseling and bankruptcy counseling services, said the soaring demand has her agency struggling to keep up.

She said her case load has more than double in recent years and that many of the people she sees today are middle class residents who have never had to cope with bill collectors or struggle to make rent payments.

"I've never felt the level of despair in our clients like I do today," she said.

Carol Ignacio, executive director of Office for Social Ministry of Hawaii Island, said local residents seeking her agency's assistance has also changed.

People seeking help these days aren't just the homeless or mentally ill but also include people who were once affluent or middle class who can no longer make their mortgage payments or don't have enough to pay rent, she said.

Ignacio's and Burkholder's organizations received $58,000 and $300,000, respectively, from the Hawaii Community Stabilization Initiative, thanks to generous funding from eBay Inc, founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam and  local charities such as the Atherton Foundation and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. (See:)

The money will long way toward helping the organizations fulfill their mission in the community.

But you have to figure that there are other needy social services out there that are hardly able to keep up with the explosion in demand for their services.  And if Hawaii's economic downturn continues to get worse,  you'll only see more strains at the local social services agencies.

Tags: Aloha United Way, Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii, food stamps, Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Community Stabilization Initiative, Office for Social Ministry of Hawaii Island, rental assistance

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