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GREENSBORO — Meet Milton, the new face of our tough economy.

He’s 44 , a college graduate and a Navy veteran who works in a lab coat.

Well, he used to. He got laid off in March.

Now, he lives in a cheap motel room near the airport and searches for work. He’s sent out 80 resumes . He’s been told he’s overqualified 33 times , even at the McDonald’s within walking distance from his room.

He doesn’t have a car. He boards a commuter bus almost every day and heads to Greensboro to the UNCG library or the Central Library downtown to surf the Internet for potential jobs in the science field.

Or he just stays in his room, watching CNN and making at least 15 calls a day. He follows up job leads, networks with friends and talks to his 73-year-old mom for support.

But one day in early April, he’d had it. He had exhausted his three credit cards. He had no job offers. And he felt alone. He’s divorced, his family lives in New York, and he didn’t have a dollar to his name.

He got a recommendation from the front desk to call Catholic Social Services . He did. He needed help.

“I haven’t eaten in two days, and I have no money,’’ Milton told counselor Darlene Stanley .

“Where are you?’’ Stanley asked. “Tell me a little about what’s going on.’’

“I’m a 44-year-old man, and this has never happened to me before,’’ he responded.

You see the pain in the statistics. But park yourself near what one local minister calls the “Corner of Concern’’ — West Lee and South Eugene streets — and the tough-luck stories are easy to find.

Just up the street, at the Employment Security Commission , you’ll hear how lines wrap around the building every weekday and how more people — blue-collar, white-collar, you name it — are coming in looking for work.

A few blocks down, at the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope, you’ll hear how people who once were donors are now recipients. They need food, clothing, financial assistance and a place to stay.

Run the numbers. In 2007, 39 people who once earned $51,000 to $80,000 a year sought help at Center of Hope. In 2008, 83 people who once earned that amount arrived.

Then talk to Jackie Lucas, executive director for Center of Hope. She’ll mention the plight of a university professor she met last year.

The professor’s life tumbled when her husband left her after he lost his job. She lost her house to foreclosure and ended up living for six months in a two-bedroom apartment at the Center of Hope with her teenage son until she could get on her feet.

Then there’s Milton.

He doesn’t want you to know his real name. He’s ashamed. He usually gives to charities. He doesn’t approach them for a handout. He’s a white-collar guy, a lover of science who used to pull down $1,000 a week .

Now, he just wants $290 a week , his unemployment benefit. He expects to get it this weekend after the Employment Security Commission ruled in his favor and found he wasn’t let go for misconduct, as his company originally claimed. He was just let go.

So, he’ll get extra money he desperately needs. Just open his small refrigerator. All you’ll see is a package of turkey slices, bottles of ketchup, mustard and salad dressing, and a package of bologna that cost 99 cents.

Yes, Milton needs help. That’s what made the call to Stanley so tough.

“It was the first time in my life that I couldn’t do it by myself,’’ he said the other day from his hotel room. “When you think you’ve been preparing yourself to take care of yourself, be responsible and help others since you were a child.

“And now, you have to admit you can’t take care of yourself? That’s it in a nutshell. It’s tough. It’s tough every day.’’

Stanley found money and food for Milton through GCAN.

That’s spiritual shorthand for the Guilford Congregational Assistance Network, a new group of 25 churches and social service agencies that has come together to help people they see knocking at their sanctuary doors.

And with our tough economy, those knocks are coming more often — from people just like Milton.

“People are seeking help who have never sought help before,’’ said the Rev. Virginia Herring , assistant rector at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and one of the GCAN organizers.

“They’re going to the food bank, they’re going to DSS, and they’re so close to the red line in their checkbook that it doesn’t take as much to knock them off.’’

Milton’s better, at least right now. But he wants a job. He wants to be productive. He wants to, as he says, “be me.’’

“You see things like this all the time, and you never think it’ll happen to you,’’ he said. “A full-time job. Now, I’m living day to day. Fortunately, I’m not sleeping under a bridge or in the woods or something like that.’’

“But sometimes I feel like I’m doing everything right, nothing is coming through for me, and I feel I need to pack my stuff and start walking.’’

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com