MILWAUKEE - Calls for help are way up at one area phone bank, and it’s directly tied to our tough economic times. There are a lot of ways to measure the economic downturn: unemployment statistics, the number of foreclosures, but nothing may be more concrete an indication than the calls here to the 211 help line. Last month, the center set a record for the number of calls from people pursuing help. More than 13,500 in October alone and almost 107,000 through the first 10 months of 2008. That's a 7 percent jump from last year. “So we're seeing more than a doubling in our call volume in just a few years,” Impact Hotline Director Bob Waite said. Waite believes the need for organizations like this will only increase as the economy declines. “People are again having to make difficult choices about what to do. Do I pay my utility bill or do I pay for food for the house?” Wait said. As families feel their backs against the wall, calls could break a heart, and often do. Just ask Mary. She's answered the phones from the very beginning: 9 years ago. “Even people that’s working, we talk to them every day that never been to a food pantry in their life and they be ashamed to call and just ask for help because they never thought they would ever go through something like that,” Mary Fuller said. As sad as so many of these calls can be, operators feel real satisfaction knowing they've connected someone in need to services that can help.