Nonprofits already facing historical levels of demand aren't seeing any slackening--requests for cash and food assistance from the state rose again during the second quarter.

Sixty-four Michigan counties saw more residents asking for cash assistance from the state during the second quarter, compared to the same quarter of 2009, according to a new quarterly report from the Michigan League for Human Services.   Livingston County led requests for cash assistance from the state for the quarter with a 30.4 percent jump, according to the Michigan League for Human Services’ latest Economic Security Bulletin.    Other counties with large jumps in requests for cash assistance included: Oakland, 25 percent; Kalamazoo, 24.5 percent; Jackson, 24.1 percent and Macomb, 21.7 percent.

Requests for cash assistance across Michigan during the second quarter increased 10.6 percent, year over year, according to the report.  
Kalamazoo and Livingston counties were among the 10 counties with the biggest jumps in the unemployment rate and in requests for food assistance caseloads.
Ottawa, Oakland and Washtenaw counties also made the list of the 10 counties with the largest jump in households receiving food assistance, the report said.

Food assistance caseloads statewide went up 30 percent during the quarter vs. the same three months of 2009, bringing the total number of individuals/families seeking food assistance to 885,070 or 18.1 percent of the state’s population.