People who never imagined asking for help to pay their rent or mortgage have had to ask this year.

“A lot of them are very embarrassed,” said Jane Rovik, a housing specialist with Community Action Agency of Racine and Kenosha, which offers financial help for those facing a housing crisis.

Embarrassed or not, since the recession began, college graduates, homeowners, people who were once squarely in the middle, even upper middle, class have become “typical clients” at the agency.

They are in their 40s and 50s. They built lives, homes, careers. They had savings and retirement funds.

And now they’re in Rovik’s office.

“They never thought they’d be here,” she said. “They have education. They thought they had a secure job. They were set. They did not think, at this point in their lives, that this would be happening to them.

“People are coming in here with great big, huge file folders to show me all the jobs they have applied for. They don’t have to do that. They say, ‘I’ve applied here and here and here, and no one will call me back.’ They feel they have to prove to me they’ve done this.

“I tell them, ‘Everybody comes here.’ And everybody does, so nobody should be embarrassed.... I try to tell people it’s not their fault,” Rovik said. “It’s the economy. But people are taking it personally.

“Their whole world is turned upside down. They don’t know what to expect when they come in here.”

Numbers rising

Emergency assistance through Community Action is available for people facing eviction, financial crisis and homelessness.

The agency, which has offices in Racine and Kenosha, can help people who have fallen behind on the rent or don’t have enough money for a security deposit. Eligibility depends on income.

So far this year, Community Action has spent $238,679 to help 442 households, about 1,630 people.

But many more have asked for help, and that number has been rising since June, when 327 people came to Rovik’s office.

— July, 473.

— August, 536.

— September, 395.

— October, 577.

In November, Rovik saw 67 people in one day.

“We’re just trying to get them through,” Rovik said. “It goes up and up and up every month.... It’s so much crisis all the time and different levels of it. It’s the worst I’ve seen in 10 years (doing this job).”

‘Here to help’

Not everyone who comes to Community Action will get money. With only about $300,000 each year, plus another $178,000 this year in federal stimulus, Rovik couldn’t possibly give money to everyone.

But, she said, “even if clients aren’t eligible for financial assistance, we offer mediation services between landlords and clients.”

That helps keep people from losing their apartments.

Community Action also offers budget counseling and works to educate landlords about available community resources to keep tenants in place.

“I just want people to know we’re here to help,” Rovik said. “We can’t do everything, but as far as their rent and their housing goes, we do what we can to keep them in their homes or find them housing that they can afford.”