Patricia Thompson is Office Manager for the Salvation Army in Dalton.  "We do emergency financial assistance," she explains.  "Rent, utility assistance is the main one, help with mortgage payments. We also have transitional housing- four units- for homeless families."

Resources at the Salvation Army are stretched thin.  "We are so much busier than we've ever been here," adds Thompson.  "Ever since October, at least a 30% increase in assistance requests."

Help to Dalton's Hispanic population is also growing.  ACLA- the Latin American Community Alliance- aims to promote everything from health care access to meeting the cultural needs of the Hispanic population. Nine years ago, ACLA held its first health fair. With 300 participants and a dozen healthcare providers they called it a success. Since then it's gotten bigger.

"We served over 4,000 attendees with some 300 staff," said Aaron Moore, ACLA president.

The non-profit organization helped between 7,000 and 8,000 Dalton residents last year, through information referrals and its four main yearly events.  "We have several cultural events that we do, including our cultural expo which is a summer open-air fair," explained Moore.

A key part of ACLA's mission is a focus on education. The organization was founded in 1997 by businessmen, citizens and a group of teachers.

"Now, although we were continuing to support public education, we saw there were other needs within the community as well," said Moore.

ACLA also offers citizenship classes and a scholarship program to Dalton State College.

Learn more about ACLA by clicking here.

Learn more about the Salvation Army here.