Debbie Rose said she had to go. So, last year she did.

“I think the biggest thing was I fled a domestic violence situation in Montana,” Rose said. “I put my dog in one seat, myself in another.”

The Plano native came back to what she knew, Texas. She made her way in a two-seater and, eventually, got a job as a recruiter. In February, she was laid off.

According to the 60-year-old, she did not want to be a burden on her family’s table. So, she went to the Salvation Army in Hood County.

“It was devastating,” she said. “It was very difficult. Very difficult.”

Rhagrean Frey with the Salvation Army in Hood County said it’s difficult for families to come into their offices in Granbury to ask for help. She said more are coming in the door.

“Since I’ve been here, a lot of job layoffs. We’ve seen an increase with utilities or just living expenses,” Frey said. “Rent has gone up in the area. And so these families who are used to living paycheck to paycheck, having that budget, having that increase, it hurts.”

Frey said their emergency financial assistance is $90,000 for community assistance. Last year, she said that number jumped to $99,000. They’ve already set it at  $100,000 for next year.

According to Frey, they assisted 126 families or elderly persons with rent, 203 people with utility bills, 57 got gas vouchers, and 28 additional people got funding for lodging. The disbursements are from October 2024 through September 2025. Frey approves the applications for funding.

“And I hope that when those families do come in and they have little ones, that they don’t get affected by it and they don’t even realize that it’s going on, because I couldn’t imagine as a mom going home and telling my kids, you know, ‘our utilities aren’t on right now,'” she said.

Red Kettle fundraising, Frey said, will mean more this year. It’s the Salvation Army’s marquis fundraiser. The money helped Debbie Rose, who wants to get through this rough patch and back on her own. Her rebuild is a challenge.

She called it a Godsend.

“They helped me with my rent so that particular month I wouldn’t become homeless. And it helped me to find a more affordable situation where I could handle the monthly payments,” Rose said. “They connected me to other resources within the community.”