Many of them turn to churches for help.

On Thursday, pastors and volunteers helping the unemployed got together at St. Francis United Methodist Church to share ideas.

The second annual Bread for Our Neighbors Summit allowed nearly 80 congregational caregivers to learn about local career centers, food pantries, housing assistance, homeless shelters and public transportation, among other things.

"We're seeing more and more of a need in our church," said Toby White, director of missions at Apex United Methodist Church. "We want to refer people in the right direction."

Churches across the Triangle have stepped up to the recession's challenge. Many have increased the amount of money they give out in emergency aid, started job seeker support groups, opened food pantries or founded nonprofit organizations to help the needy.

Thursday, they were encouraged by a career transition coach to take advantage of the one asset they have in abundance: the ability to network.

"Think about how your church can tap into connections," career coach Madra Britt said. "If you learn how to tap into that, you can really help a lot of people."

Networking was the word of the day. Lisa Ramsey, a specialist with the Capital Area Workforce Development Board, said that up to 80 percent of jobs are now found through networking rather than through responses to newspaper or online wanted ads.

The last hour of the conference was spent helping church caregivers watch out for swindlers who go from church to church trying to get money.

Finally, they were encouraged to keep doing what they're doing, even if it doesn't seem like much.

"We're just a Band-Aid," said White. "But if churches work together, we can reach a greater number of people."