Juanita Winks, the manager of St Michael's Family Centre in Baulkham Hills, said the idea that middle- to upper-class families in the north-west were immune from the financial crisis was a misconception.

``People here are struggling just as much; they just don't like to talk about it,'' she said.

Ms Winks said Hills families had been appealing for more emergency aid and accommodation ``than ever before'', with numbers set to rise before NSW unemployment hits an expected 9percent by the end of 2010.

Only last Friday, 173 staff were made redundant from Teletech at Pennant Hills.

The Hills Community Aid and Information Service offers emergency relief funding to Hills Shire residents for rent, bills, food, petrol and medical expenses. They also operate the North-West No Interest Loans Scheme, open to residents of The Hills, Hawkesbury and Blacktown council areas who are offered a 12- or 18-month loan of up to $15,000 for whitegoods, medical equipment, car registration and emergency bills. Program co-ordinator Shyama Perera said requests for emergency relief had risen by 10percent and were ``higher than what we can service''.

Appeals for rental and mortgage assistance had also ``skyrocketed'' with most from Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill and a surge in requests from Rouse Hill and Kellyville.

Other families were waiting for accommodation from the Department of Housing or looking for community housing that was ``simply not available''.

Ms Winks said while most women in the centre's Independent Housing Project were from western Sydney, there had been a ``dramatic shift in a short period

of time'' and more were applying from The Hills.

``These women are one or two paychecks away from homelessness,'' she said.

The project provides long-term housing for women and their children for subsidised rent of $120 a week.

For help, call the Hills Community Aid Organisation on 96398620 or St Michael's Family Centre on 96390763.