With the economy contracting, squeezing people at all levels, the resources available to help people in Hawaii preserve their financial and mental health are shrinking.

The Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii, a nonprofit that helps people regain control of their financial lives, has seen its caseload soar this year. At the same time, its main source of funds is drying up.

“;The backbone of our funding has come from credit grantors,”; said Wendy Burkholder, executive director. “;As the creditors have hit financial hard times, they've cut our funding to the bone. When we're most needed, we're so completely underfunded.”;

Her staff is “;ludicrously stretched”; and has to triage and focus on the worst cases, although every client is “;equally deserving,”; she said.

Financial problems can lead to mental anguish. But things are just as bad on the psychological front.

The state Division of Adult Mental Health, which serves 16,000 patients, just announced it is slashing service levels to help cope with a $24 million shortfall. On top of that, all state departments are facing as much as a 20 percent cut to their budgets in the next fiscal year.

“;Just at the time when we are going to have more people needing more mental health services, we're going to have the services dramatically decreasing,”; lamented Marya Grambs, executive director of Mental Health America of Hawaii. “;And with job loss, you have people losing health insurance. It is what they call a perfect storm.”;

Starting Jan. 1, state case managers can spend just 31/2 hours a month with each mentally ill client, a drastic change from the current three hours a day. Case managers help ensure that patients take their medications and get the therapy and support they need to function.

Catholic Charities Hawaii receives 1,000 to 1,200 calls a month seeking financial help or advice on getting food, said Rona Fukumoto, director of intake, information and referral. But it gets just $24,000 from the Federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program each year - enough to help perhaps 20 families pay one month's rent. It also receives private foundation grants, but “;we've run out of just about everything we have,”; she said.

The credit crunch, housing woes, cuts in working hours and job losses are hitting people at all levels. Extreme stress can lead people to alcohol and drugs, trigger domestic violence and even tip them into mental illness, such as major depression or a full-blown anxiety disorder, Grambs said.

“;You have many, many, many people facing many, many stresses, and it's all at once,”; she said. In such a climate, everyone needs to reach out to each other, she advised.

“;Keeping it all bottled up and feeling ashamed makes things worse,”; Grambs said. “;We all should be encouraged to talk about how we're feeling to our friends and neighbors. We all should reach out to people we think may be having a rough time.”;