Those living on a fixed income, paying back college loans, juggling mortgage payments and college tuition for children, or any combination of the above could be facing the "economics of the gap."

They might have real trouble paying the bills, but if their income is too high, they can't qualify for assistance from state and federal sources. And although assistance through municipal welfare offices is based on need, rather than just income, most towns follow guidelines in determining eligibility that don't take into account some of the larger expenses that many people have.

Town welfare assistance, said Dublin's Town Welfare Officer Kathy Merrick on Thursday, just covers the necessities of life, like food, heat, shelter and transportation expenses.

But tuition, for example, isn't counted as an expense in Dublin.

"Education is considered a luxury," Merrick said

"If there's not enough money to pay expenses for the basic necessities of life, you qualify for assistance," Merrick said. "We are required by [state law] to provide assistance."

The increasing costs of these basic necessities of life, or as Merrick put it, "non-negotiable items," is putting more people at risk for financial crises, even if they economize by eating out less and cutting back on purchases. All it takes is one accident or one illness to set someone back, she said.

"People are becoming more vulnerable to financial disaster more quickly and in ways they never expected," she said.

Bridging the gap

Ways to help people who don't meet qualifications for governmental assistance but still need help just getting through winter were the subject of a community forum in Jaffrey Thursday. About 150 people, representing Monadnock region social service agencies, food banks, schools and churches, including concerned residents and several town welfare officers, gathered at the Shattuck Golf Club to share concerns, network and learn more about help available.

The forum grew out of meetings the board of directors at the River Center and Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter in Peterborough held over the summer. Ellen Avery, director of community building at the Monadnock United Way in Keene, organized the event.

How many people?

Just how much the country's economic problems are affecting people in the Monadnock region was one question voiced at the forum. Perhaps media attention is making the financial situation seem much worse than it really is, one man said. But the increases reported at the forum in the number of visitors to food banks, applications for fuel and electric assistance and aid through town welfare offices seem to suggest otherwise.

Mary Drew, Jaffrey's town welfare officer and a forum panel participant, said these days it could take three to four weeks before someone could get an appointment with her to apply for assistance, unless it's an emergency. That's because there are so many people seeking help right now.

Merrick, who also sat on the panel, said she had been in touch with welfare officers in six other towns. "Almost all of us in the last six weeks have had our assistance rolls increase by 50 percent," she said.

In Dublin as of Oct. 27, she said, $30,000 has been spent on welfare assistance this year, and she expects to spend another $10,000 by the end of December.

Meredith White of the Monadnock Area Food Bank in Peterborough said the food bank, which serves 22 towns in the region, purchased $12,000 worth of food for the entire year in 2007. So far this year, the bank has purchased $14,000 in food.

Panelists for regional social services agencies discussed what's being done at the state level to help more people through the fuel assistance program.

Beth Daniels, director of energy services at Southwestern Community Services of Keene, which serves residents of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, said the number of applications for fuel and electric assistance this year is way up. She said the agency is double booking applicants for appointments every 15 minutes.

"We're going to have a lot of families who still hover above our income limits who still need help and deserve help," she said.

The state has recently increased the income limits for eligibility and could do so again, she said. For example, the annual income limit for a family of four recently jumped from $39,220 to $52,438.

Merrick told of a person in Dublin who came to her for welfare assistance but didn't qualify for help with fuel because the family's income was $8 over the income limits set by the state. After the recent increase, she said, she sent the person back to Southwestern Community Services for help.

Erika Alusic Bingham of Southern New Hampshire Services, a community action agency serving Hillsborough County, said people who need help but don't meet the state's income limits should apply anyway. There may be another program that can help, she said. Assistance through Southern New Hampshire Services is available at the River Center in Peterborough, she said.

Daniels said the hope is that the state will also increase the amount of benefit levels, or assistance designated based on household income and the amount of money spent on fuel the previous winter. The old assistance levels don't buy as much fuel as they used to, she said.

There are 24 benefit levels set by the state ranging between $120 and $975 for winter heating assistance, according to Louise Bergeron, energy director at Southern New Hampshire Services for Hillsborough County, who was not at the forum.

In some cases, knowing who needs help isn't so clear. Questions arose among participants of the forum as to how to find the people who might need help, but haven't come forward.

As one woman put it, "How do you get past that Yankee pride that says I won't accept help?"

Kathy Baird, field coordinator for Volunteer New Hampshire based in Concord suggested one way to find such people.

"Write a letter to the editor," she said.

What's being done

Andrea Gilbert of the River Center -- a community resource center in Peterborough that serves Antrim, Bennington, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Dublin, Jaffrey, Sharon, Temple, Rindge, New Ipswich and Greenville -- said social service agencies and town welfare officers "can't do it all." She introduced a number of local grassroots organizations that have developed some creative ways to help their neighbors.

Kristen Vance, a representative of The Grapevine Family and Community Resource Center in Antrim, discussed a grassroots four-town model that developed in 2003 under the umbrella of the Grapevine. The mission of the four-town group is community health and well-being based upon relationships between people, she said.

Residents of Antrim, Hancock, Bennington and Francestown share a middle school and shop in each other's towns, she said. Five years ago, the group started holding free community suppers on Thursday evenings, as a way to strengthen relationships.

The next venture in relationship building was the People's Service Exchange, in which members from the nine towns of the ConVal School District trade services for time dollars, which they can cash in when they need a service. Today, there are 300 members, Vance said.

"It's a reciprocal relationship. People give and receive," she said.

Maryann Grant, a member of the Greenfield GIVers -- Greenfield's Independent Volunteers -- said the group got its start in 2002. Its mission is building partnerships with the community and providing assistance. A group of 20 people meet monthly, she said, to work on projects like raising money for the library and Fire Department or buying holiday gifts for needy families. Recently, they began an organic garden for the community near the town offices.

Last year, Grant said, the Givers raised $1,000 through wood sales to supplement fuel assistance for Greenfield residents; they hope to donate $3,000 this year. They are also donating money to a local food bank.

"It's wonderful to be able to help the people," she said.

It takes time to start a group, she said, "but don't give up."

The group's Web site is http://www.thegivers.org.

Grant said Jim Orr of Peterborough helped get a wood bank started in Greenfield that helps residents in need heat their homes over the winter.

Orr spoke about how to organize a wood bank at the forum. He said it is as simple as finding the right leader, people to donate cordwood, able-bodied people to load and transport the wood, securing a site where it can be kept and then identifying worthy recipients.

"Get the word out and advertise," he said.