KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City police received an unusual traffic call Monday morning at 63rd Street and Manchester Trafficway.
Officers had to patrol traffic for a time because so many people, who've fallen on hard times, had gathered there.
A federally funded agency,
United Services, kicks off its low income utility assistance program to large crowds the first week every November.
But the size of Monday's crowd was unusually large.
When the doors opened at United Services Monday morning, an estimated 1000 people had already formed a line.
The manager says it's the biggest group he's seen in a long time.
He blames hard economic times with more people losing jobs and having a difficult time finding a new one.
United Services offers up to $800 to each qualifying family for gas and electric bills during the cold winter months.
He says most of the people in line Monday are living without lights or heat.
Shaylyn Dean of United Services says, "People are really struggling right now. We're one of those agencies who've helped a lot of people in the community. This last year in the winter program we helped out 22,000 households. This year, we think we're going to see a nice rise there."
They estimate that number will swell to about 26,000 families this winter.
