TRAVERSE CITY — It all started when Trish Osper and her husband divorced.
She found herself alone with two children and little income to pay the bills. The Kingsley woman, 54, struggled to put food on the table, and friends who offered help also began to feel the pinch of an economy in free-fall.
That's when Osper turned to her last resort: the Michigan Department of Human Services.
"It was a little embarrassing that you have to go to that level," said Osper, who now makes regular visits to the Traverse City DHS office. "I think the worst part is people you know are sitting there with you."
State figures show more people in the Grand Traverse region are making similar trips to state offices. The number of area residents seeking food assistance from DHS spiked this year, with Leelanau County logging the biggest increase — at 47 percent — of residents who received a state-issued debit card, or Bridge Card, to purchase food during the second quarter of 2010, compared to 2009.
A report released this month by the Michigan League for Human Services — a nonprofit organization dedicated to education, research and advocacy for the benefit of low-income residents — indicates 786 Leelanau County residents received food assistance during the second quarter of 2010, compared to 534 in the second quarter of 2009.
Grand Traverse County saw an increase of more than 17 percent this year in the number of residents who received food assistance, that report shows.
State employee Dawn McLaughlin blames housing's burst bubble, along with struggling automobile and construction industries, for the increase in those who need help to buy food.
"That's really put increased stress on people," said McLaughlin, director of the Grand Traverse/Leelanau County DHS office.
Those who once fit in the economic middle class comprise the biggest increase in assistance seekers, McLaughlin said.
"How many of our relatives, our neighbors, even our coworkers are struggling to survive in this economy?" she said. "When you have an economy depending on tourism and you have all these low-income wage earners, how do they live in an area that's so expensive?"
Employment isn't an option right now for Osper, who cares for two children and maintains a busy class schedule at Northwestern Michigan College.
"I don't have a lot of time to look for a job, but I know that there are none out there," said Osper, who studies social work and eventually hopes to assist struggling families.
And jobs seem few and far between.
Regional unemployment rates climbed this year, particularly in Benzie County, which witnessed a 2 percent rise in joblessness between the second quarter of 2009 and second quarter 2010, when the unemployment figure reached 14.9 percent.
Benzie's unemployment increase ranked second only to Ontonagon County in that bad-news category, while Antrim County ranked fourth and Leelanau County landed seventh, according to the human services study.
Kingsley resident Patty Weathers also divorced this year and now must make ends meet with seven children in tow. She relies on the Bridge Card to augment her limited income.
"We wouldn't make it without it," Weathers said. "I wouldn't be able to feed my kids."
