First of four parts

The unfinished building looms eight stories high, gray and gaping, stalled by the massive debt that pulled down its high-flying developer, General Growth Properties Inc.

On the ground, people are feeling the impact.

“;The economy is so bad,”; said Tony Duran, a tanned and fit 49-year-old who lost his construction job when the Ward Village Shops project abruptly shut down last month. “;How can we survive if we don't have jobs?”;

As the economic storm reaches Hawaii's shores, financial stress is starting to fray local lifestyles. By most measures, Hawaii is still better off than the mainland, with more people employed and fewer losing their homes. But trends are heading downhill. And the uncertainty is wearing people down.

People are losing jobs or having their hours cut - or they know someone who is. Their health insurance is getting cut off. They face higher food bills. Their retirement accounts are slashed.

“;The situation seems to hit everyone that I see,”; said Duke Wagner, a licensed psychologist whose clients range from the wealthy to welfare recipients. “;They feel a sense of helplessness and feeling stuck.”;

Wagner, who has been in private practice for more than 20 years, said his clients have had economic troubles in the past, “;but not so across the board, where it seems to be part of the lives of everyone.”;

The Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii, which helps people get a handle on their finances, has seen its caseload soar to a projected 2,200 families this year, up from 1,300 last year. Executive Director Wendy Burkholder describes the mood among her clients as “;high anxiety, absolutely high anxiety.”;

“;Generally speaking, people have very strong and good ethics about repaying debt in Hawaii,”; Burkholder said. “;They want to do the right thing. But their situations are evolving into places they never dreamed of being.”;

“;In 20 years of counseling, I've never felt a need to have (telephone) numbers handy for suicide prevention help,”; she added. “;Now I do. I'm not kidding you. It is scary because our self-esteem and how we handle our money are very intertwined.”;

The closure of Aloha Airlines on March 31, throwing 1,900 people out of work and spooking many local residents, triggered the first wave of anxiety in the state.

“;That was like a sonic boom,”; Burkholder said. “;Our calls (at the credit counseling service) went crazy in April from people who realized how tenuous everything was. They started thinking, What would happen to me if I lost my job?”;

At the state Department of Health, the number of calls made to its mental health crisis hot line spiked to 12,000 in April, up from an average of 9,000 a month. Most hot-line calls were seeking services or information, not urgent help, and officials said they did not appear to be related to the economy.

Though the number of calls quickly settled back to the 9,000 range and has stayed there, the bad news has kept coming with depressing regularity. Tourism has taken a hit, with visitor arrivals down more than 13 percent for five months straight compared with year-earlier figures. Statewide bankruptcy filings reached 215 last month, a big jump from the 125 the previous November. The unemployment rate reached 4.5 percent in October, a steep rise from 2.8 percent a year ago.

Those figures were just headlines to Kailua resident Greg Beisner until a few weeks ago. Beisner, 39, has worked in commercial sales with an established local company for six years.

On Nov. 14 he reported to work at 6 a.m., as usual. By 7:30 a.m. he was back home at his condo, surprising his girlfriend, who had not yet left for work. Along with several others at his company, he had lost his job.

“;I always heard about it, read about it, looked at the numbers in the paper,”; Beisner said. “;I was totally aware of it. But not directly. I kind of skipped through the news until, bam, here it was, coming to me.”;

Since then he has been spending his time looking for a new job, cleaning house and handling the food shopping. He finds himself turning off lights and the ceiling fans to save electricity. “;We're looking at every little thing now,”; he said.

At Catholic Charities Hawaii, Rona Fukumoto, director of intake information and referral, said a broader range of people are contacting her agency for help. In addition to renters, homeowners are asking for mortgage counseling. And inquiries about getting food stamps have been coming by e-mail for the first time.

“;That's odd to me because most of the people who are in need of that type of benefit don't usually have access to computers,”; she said. “;It's a different group that's looking for assistance now, and that's pretty sad.”;

Her agency does not handle food stamps or mortgage counseling, and refers callers to Aloha United Way's 211 phone line for guidance.

Even if they have not lost their jobs, many Hawaii workers have had their hours cut, sometimes drastically. Loretta Kalilikane, a vivacious 22-year-old, worked full time as a housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for four years until being put “;on call”; last month. That means she has to phone in every day to see whether she should report to work. The last half of November, she worked just one day a week. Last week she got zero hours.

“;I know that I'm not the only one suffering,”; said Kalilikane, who rents a studio in Moiliili. “;Everyone's feeling the effects of the economic recession.”;

“;I'm afraid of being laid off or let go,”; she acknowledged. “;Now especially, because it's really bad. It's hard to find a second job. I've tried. I've applied at a couple of places. They say, 'It's not that we don't want you, but right now we're not looking to hire anybody because of the financial situation.'”;

Her co-workers, who weathered the collapse of tourism after Sept. 11, 2001, are helping her stay strong and think positive, she said.

Having support and a sense of humor is important, according to Wagner, the psychologist, who is 63 but will not be retiring any time soon given the drop in his retirement account.

“;Being sensitive to one's own feelings and the feelings of other people, being able to find something positive in the human condition, can be very helpful and prevent people from going too far down as far as their mood,”; he said.

“;We're sharing something, although it may be difficult and beyond our control,”; he added. “;It's not going to exist at this level forever. Drawing upon our own sense of humor, our personal qualities, our willingness to care for each other in different ways, even if we can't help financially, can help get us through a difficult time like this.”;

While Hawaii's economy has been skidding, the islands could be far worse off. The state's unemployment rate is still two percentage points lower than the nation's, which hit 6.5 percent in October. The foreclosure rate is also relatively low, compared with the rate for the rest of the country, due in part to conservative local banking practices.

Hawaii's foreclosure rate ranks 28th among the states. The houses being foreclosed on in Hawaii are often second homes, financed by mainland banks.

But that can still displace local people.

Take, for example, a 4,300-square-foot home in Enchanted Hills, Aiea, bought for $1.1 million in 2006 and still assessed at that value, which will be at a foreclosure auction on Dec. 29. Its owners had rented out its three floors to different families. Now all those renters have to move.

“;We're in the process of looking for places to live,”; said Chariedeth Lacar, whose family has rented the bottom floor for the past year. “;The owner of the house, she had to pay a lot of bills.”;

In Hawaii, individuals and families often have multiple jobs to meet high living costs. That can give them a bit of breathing room when one job is lost. There are still several incomes in Tony Duran's household, which spans three generations, including his grandchildren. His wife, Harlene, works at Palama Supermarket, and his son and daughter-in-law have jobs at local hospitals.

“;We can still handle the mortgage as long as my son still has a job,”; said Harlene Duran, who is watching her spending after her husband's layoff.

They are looking at the holidays in a more subdued light at their home in Kalihi, but Tony Duran is keeping his sense of humor.

“;Maybe we cannot buy steak and lobster this year,”; he said with a rueful chuckle. “;Maybe only Spam musubi.”;