These new recipients have added to the Phoenix agency's mounting troubles. In October, its emergency shelter turned away 161 families and its food pantry had to send away 198 families. Meanwhile, 526 families couldn't get help with utility bills, Martodam said.
And the worst may be yet to come. The charity typically receives about half its $2.4 million in annual cash contributions in December.
"We can only give out what comes in," Martodam said. "The whole community is just out of resources."
Across the country, natural disasters have added to relief groups' financial strain, with a drum beat of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes and winter storms this year depleting their coffers.
The Salvation Army has seen its disaster donations fall, even as overall contributions have remained roughly steady, one official said.
The charity now faces dual pressures: Trying to keep up with growing demand for its storefront services while replenishing relief funds from donors who are tapped out or impassive in the face of repeated catastrophes.
"The fact that we've had so many [disasters] has worked against our ability to fund-raise," said Melissa Temme, a spokeswoman for the national organization. "You throw in the economy and millions of dollars raised for the political process and you start to see it's been a very full two years."
Philanthropy experts say charities are facing one of the most daunting fiscal environments in recent memory. Charitable giving in the coming year, they say, will depend primarily on stock market performance, corporate profits and personal income.
"We do think there is going to be some pain associated with the charities," said Patrick Rooney, interim executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. "They will have to make choices about programs and staff. It's going to be a more challenging year."
The American Red Cross is one charity that appears, for the time being, to be bucking the trend.
Since September, the organization has raised $65 million toward a goal of $100 million to replenish its disaster relief fund; it hopes to raise $30 million in December.
In a nod to the power of the Internet, the Red Cross has hired some of the fundraisers who helped President-elect Barack Obama raise enormous sums of money online.
