The downturn is not news to those dealing hands-on with poverty every day.

Goodwill relies on folks emptying out their closets and donating their used stuff.

But sales of new clothes are down, people are giving less and that hurts.

"We're just not getting as many donations. People tend to hold onto things longer when we're in a recession," said James Stiff. The president of Goodwill says this is the worst he's ever seen.

And even with more shoppers, he says the lack of quality donations has caused revenues to drop five percent. That hits Goodwill where it counts.

"A lot of folks don't know when they shop at Goodwill that it's guilt-free shopping, because they're helping somebody go to work," Stiff said.

During the last couple of months, the local Goodwill has seen demand for its job services skyrocket.

George Richardson is one of the success stories.

"With no family support, this was the safety net that caught me," Richardson said.

But in this tough economy, that safety net relies on the loading dock.

"We need people to clean out their closets more than ever before so we'll have enough donations in the store to turn into revenue to invest in people's lives," said Stiff.

Stiff says 85 cents out of every dollar spent in the Goodwill stores goes to the job connection services.

And he says with a 40 percent higher demand for job services, this is a tough time to take a hit on the store side.