The economy goes

boom.

Just a few years ago, Jeannette Hundley had a comfortable middle-class life in California's Silicon Valley. Then her husband developed kidney failure. When he died, he left a mountain of bills and no life insurance. Hundley became homeless at the age of 55.

Hundley says she was lucky to find St. Mary's Center in Oakland. The center provided her with a safe home, hot meals and psychological counseling. It helped her apply for disability payments and encouraged her to apply for financial aid at a local college, where she is studying to become a mental health and substance abuse counselor.

"I never dreamed this would have happened to me," says Hundley, 57, who has moved into transitional housing with one of St. Mary's partner organizations. "St. Mary's has been like a guardian angel. They care about you and treat you like a human being."

But many advocates for the poor say they worry about people such as Hundley, predicting the nation's poor could face a bleak winter. Community charities across the country report that donations are down. Donors who gave generously to hurricane disaster relief now have less to give to local charities, experts say, especially because of rising prices for fuel, heat and other necessities.

Mr. Bush, your thoughts? (See below).