"Nearly 70,000 children younger than 18 in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties lived in poverty in 2007 -- about 33 percent of the region's 211,000 poor people.
The Census Bureau figures released Tuesday show poverty in Metro Orlando was stagnant in 2007 -- but that's not what it looks like today at local social-service agencies.
Those who work on the front lines of the region's battle against poverty said those numbers don't reflect a surge of families seeking help in recent months, including many who once lived comfortably among the middle class.
"Almost every day we have a line outside our building for emergency assistance -- for rent and utilities help and food," said Steven Gilmore, spokesman for The Salvation Army of Orange and Osceola Counties. "These are virtually all families with children, and this is just a way to keep them from becoming homeless".
See the entire article by going to the Orlando Sentinel in Orlando, Florida
