They need food. A shower. Clean clothes. A place to sleep. Schools for their kids. Health care. A little cash. And, finally, a job. And we'll try to give it to them, too, just as soon as we help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The terrible storm that hit the Gulf Coast last week not only exposed the sham of the federal disaster response program; it exposed the illusion of American prosperity. Cities like New Orleans, like Phoenix, like every American city, have living within them large numbers of people who each day are struck by hurricanes of a more personal variety. The difference is that in a place like Phoenix the eye of the storm passes over one house at a time.

Less than a week before Hurricane Katrina, an Arizona Republic article pointed out Census Bureau figures indicating that "poverty is embedded and gradually rising" in Arizona.

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We are a generous community. But on any given day you won't see a long line of traffic at the Salvation Army collection center on East Van Buren, as you have during the past week. Or a sudden rush of individuals willing to volunteer or to offer victims space in their homes. All of which might have saved some of the lives that were lost during the recent heat wave.

Poverty as it exists in most cities doesn't warrant 24-hour-a-day media coverage, however. Although this week The Republic also printed articles that estimated the number of homeless in the Valley at about 12,000. And while Phoenix voters approved a new homeless shelter, we've never responded to the problem with the same zeal that the hurricane crisis has generated.

I spoke this week to Sandy Doubleday of the Arizona Community Foundation, a clearinghouse for charitable organizations.

"We're anxious to help the hurricane victims, of course," she said, "but I would think that every community in the country has to a smaller degree people with those same needs. The hurricane magnifies the problem, but to a less visible degree we have those same concerns here."

Those wishing to learn about the good work of local organizations can check out the foundation's Web site (www.azfoundation.org) or call (602) 381-1400.

"We put donors together with the needs that interest them," Doubleday said.

I also talked to Missie D'Aunoy with Habitat for Humanity's Valley of the Sun branch.

"People are calling us ((602) 268-9022) and asking what they can do," she said. "We're asking that they make monetary donations for now. But there are also volunteer programs that we update continually."

Last year, Habitat built 30 houses locally while still supporting the massive effort to help tsunami victims. D'Aunoy hopes that the same thing will happen this year.

"High tide raises all ships," she said. "Whenever there is a pressing need, we want to support it. Hopefully people will recognize there is also a need here."

It can be difficult to spot. The storms that put most people in distress aren't as dramatic at Katrina. A father gets cancer. A mom is involved in a car crash. A business folds. A family member develops mental illness. For people living paycheck to paycheck, debt can rise faster than floodwater, leaving them stranded.

A woman called this week to say that while we heaped aid on victims of Katrina, some destitute neighbors of hers were having trouble getting the government assistance that she thought they deserved.

"I've been watching TV," she said. "I told them to quit making phone calls and to get out the ladder and a can of paint and write 'HELP' on their roof."



Reach Montini at (602) 444-8978 or ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.