The recession is growing — and so are the needs of the faithful. The Catholic Review in Baltimore offers a glimpse at what is happening in that archdiocese:

Not so long ago, Oredolapo Roberts lived in a four-bedroom house, owned a successful business and drove her kids around in a new Chevy Tahoe.

Then the economy faltered, her event-planning business went bust and the bank foreclosed on her home. In August, she and two of her children moved into Sarah’s House, the Anne Arundel County homeless shelter, where they have lived since.

At St. Francis de Sales in Abingdon, people who had never been poor keep showing up, said Deacon James Sullivan, coordinator of social action and justice ministries.

“They lose their jobs,” Deacon Sullivan said, “and they’re coming to us and saying, ‘Can you help me? I’ve never been through anything like this before.’ ”

Even longtime donors now seek help for themselves and their families. At the Franciscan Center in West Baltimore, an elderly woman got surly when staff asked routine questions. Said the center’s CEO, Karen Hayward-West: “She blurted out, ‘I supported you since 1944, and now that I need help, I can’t believe you’re putting me through this.’”

Across the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the economic slowdown has struck harder and deeper than any in recent memory. It has rapidly increased the ranks of first-time jobless, homeless and hungry people and, in turn, strained the resources of charities, shelters, churches and food pantries.

Compounding matters, contributions from government and private sources as well as donations from individuals have declined as economic woes worsen and spread.

Unemployment is rising in Maryland, which, thanks to a strong government presence, has been relatively safe from spikes in joblessness that have hit harder elsewhere. The state’s jobless rate reached 5 percent for the first time in 12 years in October, the Labor Department reported, and economists expect an even greater percentage out of work in the months to come.

With the downturn, in many cases, the face of the needy has changed dramatically. Many got laid off from steady jobs, from laborers to executives, and some of them had college degrees. More children and families have become homeless. Shrinking retirement investments prompted some to re-enter the workforce. Families with children fill an increasing proportion of slots in homeless shelters.

The squeeze has left some unable to afford mortgage payments, rent, utilities, medical bills – or forced them to choose among these necessities.

At Sarah’s House, the shelter inside a former military barrack on Fort Meade, Ms. Roberts sits on a worn couch with other homeless mothers and recounts how quickly her definition of “homeless” changed.

“You know, when you hear that word ‘homeless,’ you tend to think of the disheveled person on the corner,” she said. “But, oh, no, these people are just like me. … To see a lot of families here just really blew my mind.”

There’s much more at the link. Take, read, and pray.

Photo: Serving meals at Our Daily Bread Employment Center in Baltimore. Photo by Owen Sweeney III/Catholic Review.