Tamara Olson, 26, has three mouths to feed, and one child starting kindergarten. She has no job, and the father of her children — ages 5, 2 and 15 months — left them. She has just moved back to her hometown of Austin.

What does she do now?

Olson spoke candidly about her struggles to make ends meet as she visited recently with staff at the Salvation Army, where she received help with food, furniture and school supplies. They gave her a voucher for toiletries at the Red Cross’s personal care shelf, and she was invited to the free Community Meal.

“This last week I would have been in a big bind,” Olson said before a stop at the Back-to-School BBQ at Austin Catholic Schools. “They’ve really been very supportive of me.

“Hey — something’s better than nothing,” she said.

That statement could never be so true for the people utilizing the Salvation Army’s services today. A lower-income population, coupled with a down economy, has forced more and more people to turn to the non-profit for help with utility bills, food and housing. Many are in situations they have never experienced before.

However, the influx of needy people is taking its toll on the Salvation Army. Now, they are the ones turning to people for help.

“This is the roughest year I’ve seen as far as need over what’s coming in,” said Kathy Hendrickson, business administrator and 13-year employee. “I know that everybody else is hurting, because the need is so much greater, and that makes it harder for people to donate.”

The Salvation Army is pushing aside pride and saying, “We acknowledge we are in a desperate financial situation.”

To date, the Salvation Army is running a loss of $75,000. They are struggling to pay staff, utilities and other bills. Like many human service organizations operating during a recession, the need is way up and the income is way down.

According to Hendrickson, their total budget for the fiscal year 2008-2009 was $657,000. Income comes from many sources, including their thrift store, grants, FEMA, the United Way, The Hormel Foundation and numerous private donations.

To donate or volunteer:

Call 437-4566

Visit or mail checks to 409 First Ave. N.E., Austin , MN 55912

Monetary donations are the biggest need

“We get donations that are specific to a program, say the food shelf or Community Meal,” Hendrickson said. “But we still have the ongoing costs of building repairs or utility costs. It’s really hard to meet the utility costs. And the staffing. This year, I see fewer and fewer donations coming in.”

“This summer has been the most difficult to pay our bills,” Maj. Marlys Anderson said. “It’s kind of ironic we are paying other people’s and can’t pay our own.”

More people in need than ever

“They look nice, but they are usually a little bit more piled up than this,” Anderson explained as she and caseworker Lori Blanton walked through the Salvation Army’s food shelves. The cans, bags and boxes are stacked neatly on shelves in two small rooms. Freezers hold meat and perishables; three are now empty.

Frozen and non-perishable food comes from a variety of resources, from community food drives to Hormel Resource and Development.

Currently, about 175 people visit the food shelf per month, compared to about 68 in 2005. Those people must qualify through an application process based on income and people per household.

A family is allowed to visit the shelf once every 60 days for a four-day supply — the most the Salvation Army can provide at this time.

“If it was possible, we would have 30-day food orders,” Epson said. “We didn’t have one food drive this summer, and that paid a big toll.”

The Salvation Army’s clientele are losing their jobs and seeing incomes reduced, making it harder to live on the allotted supply. Each family is also allowed one emergency visit per year.

“The food pantry is just one aspect of our needs,” Anderson said.

Each evening, Monday through Friday, the Salvation Army hosts its year-round Community Meal. They always have regular attendees, but are seeing more new faces — often families. About 60-100 people attend the meal, with more coming in the winter months.

Meals are nothing fancy. The Salvation Army takes what it can get, often inexpensive items, like beans or chips. Most comes from donations, but now, they may have to start buying their own meat.

With recessions come layoffs, and with joblessness comes homelessness.

There is no shelter in Austin, so those without a roof over their head must locate vouchers for a hotel, or in the case of domestic abuse, a safe house.

Each year, the Salvation Army receives a grant for emergency lodging, allowing them to distribute vouchers for the Austin Motel from October through March.

“There are a lot of people who are getting evicted and are homeless,” Epson said, citing the need for a shelter.

Many clientele are kids

Tamara Olson is not alone with her struggles to fulfill her school supply list and dress her son for his first day of class.

A school supply drive at Oak Park Mall Tuesday brought a long line of parents seeking help with back-to-school expenses. As of Wednesday, the Salvation Army helped 141 families with school supplies. Last year, they served 95.

The annual drive ensures low-income families get supplies for their children in grades 1 through 12. Supplies were collected at donation bins.

“When the people showed up yesterday, there were a lot of people we’ve never assisted,” Epson said Wednesday. “We’ve had to turn a lot of people away.”

Students who had a regular case file at the Salvation Army or who qualified for free and reduced lunch at school could receive back-to-school supplies.

For Olson and other parents of ACS children, tuition and uniforms pose a financial challenge.

ACS director Mary Holtorf said they have had more requests over the summer for assistance.

“For uniforms, we have families who bring in the older uniforms,” Holtorf said. “That’s been really popular this summer.”

Families must apply for tuition assistance; they can also qualify for the free and reduced lunch benefits.

Some ACS families bring in extra school supplies; one teacher even brought in supplies for one entire family. Faculty also put aside some of their earnings for one scholarship; $1,450 was raised last year for the scholarship this year.

At Austin Public Schools, area businesses have donated supplies. Superintendent David Krenz said Community Bank, Christopher & Banks, St. Olaf Lutheran Church and Hormel Plant employees have donated school supplies to the district.

Southgate Elementary Principal Edwina Harder, who was principal at Sumner Elementary last year, said more students in need were coming to her than ever. About 70 percent of Sumner students qualified for free and reduced lunch last year; the average district-wide is around 50 percent.

“I think sometimes when families have needs, they don’t know where to go,” Harder said. “Our community is so generous with their drives for school supplies, warm clothing drives and the winter gear drives … we’ve really been able to help.

“Weekly, I would have situations that were brought to my attention,” she explained. “Families truly want what’s best for their kids. They were always looking to do the very best that they could.”

Epson said the Salvation Army has distributed more than $3,000 worth of thrift store clothing vouchers for school. Each qualifying student receives a $10 voucher.

The Salvation Army also hosted an eight-week day camp over the summer. The camp cost $25 per week per student, and the Hormel Foundation paid 75 percent of the cost. About 60 to 70 kids participated in the Christian-based camp, which provided music lessons, field trip, cooking lessons and games. A reading program was also held with much success; 90 percent of kids improved their reading proficiency.

‘We’re just trying to help people’

Hendrickson, like everyone else at the Salvation Army, is tired of having to turn people away.

“It’s just overwhelming — the ones who’ve been here many years — having to say to people, ‘We can only help so much,’” she said. “I think it is a very worthy cause.

“And,” she said, “we’ve turned away people we’ve never had to help before.”

So far this year, Hendrickson has moved $71,000 in thrift store revenue over to core programs.

“I can remember years where I’ve pulled another $20,000 over,” she said.

It is not that customers are not buying at the thrift store. The Salvation Army is low on volunteers, particularly full-timers.

“As our community volunteers get older, not so many can afford to work more hours,” Hendrickson said.

She points out the Salvation Army does have many regular, extremely generous donors, such as the United Way, who gave at least $38,000 in utility help last fiscal year.

“I think part of my job as the business administrator is to make the best use of the funds people give us,” she said.

Anderson said she is doing everything she can “to bring more income in.”

“We’re just trying to help people,” she said. “We need to pay our bills here.”