"It's like a juggling act between the bills and things like clothing," said Bedford-Stuyvesant-raised Butts, 32, who has spent two months in an East Flatbush homeless shelter with her kids after being evicted from their apartment in a Queens housing project. Work, when she can get it, is usually part time and just above minimum wage, bringing in about $900 to $1,200 a month, she said.

While the family gets an additional $400 a month in food stamps, it's a budget with little wiggle room. With work scarce and her kids' father also jobless, she missed two rent payments at the Hammel Houses in Far Rockaway.

The family was given just three days to get out. Butts was practically in tears, she said, because she was forced to leave most of their furniture - including new beds she's still paying for - out on the street.

"I felt I could pay the rent a little late so we could get the other things we needed," she said. "Some things you learn the hard way."

Experiences like hers have grown more common in Brooklyn as the sagging economy pushes homelessness to record highs.

In October, 870 Brooklyn families with kids applied to shelters, up 17% from October 2008.

Many families live just one missed paycheck away from homelessness, said Claire Harding-Keefe, an executive at CAMBA, which runs the shelter where the Butts are staying.

"There's no safety net." The Daily News has teamed up with the Brooklyn Community Foundation, which raises funds for Brooklyn-focused nonprofits like CAMBA, to underscore the plight of homeless families.

Donations to the foundation's Caring Neighbors Holiday Campaign will give homeless kids "Caring Neighbors Kits" filled with educational books and toys.

"We're hoping in a very simple, human way to bring a bit of joy and excitement, and for young people to know that their neighbors in Brooklyn do care about them and want to help," said foundation President Marilyn Gelber.

For Butts' family, living in the Queens housing project wasn't paradise, but losing their home of four years was tough, especially for Sheema, 16, Emani, 12, and son Quamik, 11.

"I had to leave my friends and my school, and I didn't like that I'd have to meet other kids," Quamik said.

Shameka Butts has since found part-time work and is hoping to move to an East New York apartment by Christmas with the help of a government housing subsidy.

The shelter has been a good place for the family to regain their footing, she said, but "it's not home."

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