Let's put a face and a name to the Pennsylvania Budget Impasse of 2009, now in its seventh week, lumbering out of the summer and into the school year.

While Democrats and Republicans stall in Harrisburg, fighting over tax increases and program cuts, Denaé Craig tries to move onward and upward. A single mother and nursing aide earning $9.82 an hour, Craig wants to become a registered nurse, potentially tripling her income.

Through PathWays PA, one of many social-service agencies dependent on state funding, she attended a free English and math prep class for the test. She wants to enroll in another course to improve her chances and wages.

But there are no free prep classes. There's no money. There hasn't been any money for months, due to the stagnant budget process, which, for agencies like PathWays, has become a crisis.

"We've drained our cash reserves, drew down our line of credit, and paid for essentials on the group's credit cards," says president Carol Goertzel.

An agency assisting 6,000 women and children annually with an assortment of services in Delaware County and Philadelphia, PathWays is owed $1.5 million, 15 percent of its operating budget, most of which flows from Harrisburg.

In the last six budget battles - not one passed on time - agencies like PathWays planned for an impasse, a difficult July. Now, they're running dry well into August, with no end in sight.

"Those people should help people who want to do something with their lives," Craig says. "This is so backwards. If I was on public assistance, I would be getting checks."

Craig nets $648 every two weeks. She represents the one in five Delaware County residents who don't meet economic self-sufficiency standards. She wants to. She's motivated.

"Our goal is to move these women to a state of self-sufficiency, so the next generation isn't dependent on the government," Goertzel says, a goal embraced by both parties.

It's preventive social services, aid now to avoid dependency later.

Craig and Goertzel's state senator is Republican Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, now locked in economic combat with the Democrats and Gov. Rendell.

"While the politicians are working this out, there are people who want to change their lives, and their kids to be safe," Goertzel says.

Last year, PathWays offered free health-care classes to 550 residents. There are no classes scheduled for fall, and there won't be until there's funding, yet 147 names are on the current waiting list.

The irony is that there are jobs in health care. PathWays doesn't have the funds to help these women help others.

The staff counsels patience while more people move a paycheck away from requiring increased government assistance.

And PathWays is in better shape than other organizations.

"I know of an agency director who took out a second mortgage on his home," says the Pennsylvania Council on Children, Youth and Family Services' Margaret Zukoski. "I know people in foster-care agencies who have used personal credit cards."

Due to the lack of state funds, Alexis Brown at Community Women's Education Project in Kensington laid off her adult-education staff last week, 10 people. In better times, the group helps 125 adults prepare for the GED or high-school diploma while preparing their children for kindergarten, again moving people away from government dependency.

"Now, we aren't helping any adults, only the children," Brown says. "We're still getting 50 calls a week."

Goertzel, with three decades in social services, says she's never seen a situation like this. "What's lost is immeasurable, and at a time when there's never been more need," she says.

In Harrisburg, Pileggi spokesman Erik Arneson says "the most optimistic time frame" for a budget is mid-September, a month away.

Meanwhile, Denaé Craig waits.