A single mother with four children. An elderly woman with no job and a washer that won't wash. A Hispanic immigrant with a sick sister.

"I had to quit my job," said Michelle Brazie, 37, holding the hand of her 4-year-old autistic son. "He only goes to school four hours a day."

By noon, 170 people had passed through, enough to amaze a seasoned staff.

Needy families have swamped Triangle charities this year, leaving the groups to scramble for donations.

Wake County Human Services expects to find help for more than 3,000 households -- a 25 percent increase and the most in the history of the agency's Holiday Cheer program, which connects the needy with holiday gift sponsors.

Orange County expects a 30 percent upswing for its similar Holiday Opportunities program. In Durham County, the total for Share Your Christmas is expected to be 1,900 households, about 500 more than last year.

"I've got 800 people on a waiting list," said Carol Hunt, Durham's community initiatives program manager. "I just can't take any more. I don't think we'll be able to help them."

In all three counties, social workers say the poorest residents have yet to see the benefit of improving economic news.

Jobs are hard to find. Jobs with 40-hour workweeks and paychecks that cover more than basic bills are even harder to find.

"They're not feeling any relief yet," said Gene English, Holiday Cheer coordinator in Raleigh.

"People on this marginal income who are just above poverty, they're the first ones to feel the negative economy and the last ones to feel it when it comes around."

The hardship will increase when it gets colder and low-income families face higher heating bills, which many agencies warn will increase by 13 percent.

"A lot of them can't even afford to get the gas cut on," said Sylvia Wiggins, director at Helping Hand. "Some of them are still paying from last year.''

All groups are seeing a lot of elderly people who can't make ends meet.

Ella Swift, 57, joined the Holiday Cheer program in Wake County after her husband, George, 72, had a stroke in 2001.

Medicare stopped paying for some of her in-home help because George was unresponsive, she said. She still has people come a few hours a day, she said, but it isn't enough.

"I have told him that if something ever happened to one of us, the other would stick it out," she said. "I have to bathe him. I have to shave him. I have to make sure oil is on him so he won't catch bedsores."

As need rises, donations across the Triangle are starting to slacken, except in Orange County, where social workers report some groups sponsoring five or six needy families.

First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham has already held three food drives this year, but the shelves still go bare.

"As soon as food comes in, it goes out," said Juanita Montgomery, a volunteer.

The shortages and constant need come as the church sees three times the number of poor families it saw last year: about 15 a week, Montgomery said.

Donations are tapering off in Wake County, too.

The total so far is about $2,500, English said, far short of the $12,000 to $15,000 needed for Holiday Cheer. Last year, one unusually high donation put the program over the top.

English added that donations for heating fuel -- a separate program -- are coming in nicely, but the holiday program needs help. People are less likely to contribute to a holiday fund, which is a bonus rather than a necessity.

"Christmas is kind of gravy, sugar on top," he said.

At Helping Hand, Wiggins hopes for toys, especially items for 12- to 14-year-olds.

People have been donating their old ones, but they are often broken, and the staff spends time making repairs.

"A bunch of Barbie dolls came in," Wiggins said. "We've been combing their hair and sprucing them up. What Barbie wore four years ago, she isn't wearing now."

When Michelle Brazie's autistic son, Kareem, comes to the desk where Wiggins is taking applications, she hands him a lollipop, and it suffices.