He was "the nicest guy in the world," except that when she lost her disability claim and money got tight, the beatings got worse: He pulled her up by her neck, pointed a gun at her, tried to break her hand and told her he would like to kill her.

When she called the shelter in late September, he was yelling so loudly the operator told her to go outside with the phone and that's when she was told the shelter had no room and could she stay with a friend for a few days?

"So I got in the car with the baby and drove and drove," said the 38-year-old West Mifflin mother of a 19-month-old boy who asked that her name not be used. She pulled over to the side of the road and dialed friends until she found a place to stay.

"And finally a few days later, I called [the shelter] back and they took me in."

She was lucky.

But the stresses of the past year's recession and continued financial uncertainty not only are fueling increases in abuse but are making it harder for victims to escape it.

The Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh has had an unprecedented spike this year in what they call "turnaways" -- victims of intimate partner violence who are denied a place in the 36-bed Oakland facility for lack of room. Those victims are overwhelmingly women, although some men do call and are provided services, such as help with finding a safe place to stay or counseling, said Janet Scott, the center's associate director.

Five years ago, 72 women and children were turned away by the shelter, a number that rose steadily but slowly until last year, when 600 women and children were turned away, up from 222 the year before. For the first four months of this fiscal year, which began July 1 and ends June 30, 445 people already have been told to go elsewhere, which means the shelter is on track to set a record.

"It's been an explosion," said Shirl Regan, center director.

Officials have been scrambling to find beds at other domestic violence or homeless shelters in the region, she said, but very often the women who call are told to try again the next day.

If they appear in person at the shelter, "we'll find them a place. We have cots and couches and we'd put them on the floor for the night if we had to," said Ms. Regan, who has been the center's director since 2003.

Ms. Scott, who has worked at the center since its founding in 1974, said the numbers are unprecedented.

"I have never experienced so long a period where we were consistently full," she said.

Just about every day, Ms. Regan, Ms. Scott and their staffers are on the phone looking for some place to channel the overflow: to the Alle-Kiski Hope Center in Tarentum, Womansplace in McKeesport, the Women's Center of Beaver County, Crisis Center North, Washington Women's Center, VOICE in Butler County or the Blackburn Center in Westmoreland County. If those shelters are full, they are placed in facilities for homeless people.

The increase in demand could not come at a worse time, Ms. Regan said. Funding from the federal government and private sources has decreased 25 percent in the past four years and the shelter has been forced to cut its staff during that period by 13 percent.

On some particularly busy days or nights, "we've had to pull in untrained clerks and administrators to pitch in when necessary and quickly train them in basic things," Ms. Regan added.

Nationally, the same phenomenon appears to be occurring. According to the 2008 National Census of Domestic Violence Services, 8,927 victims were denied services during a one-day census conducted Sept. 17, 2008. That's up from 7,707 on the same day in 2007.

The economic recession may be fueling the increases, but it isn't causing the underlying abuse, cautioned Brian Namey, spokesman for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

"The recession does not cause domestic violence, but an economic downturn can exacerbate existing abuse," he said. "A poor economy can increase stress levels in relationships and limit options for victims to escape violent relationships."

Job loss also can mean that abusers are home more frequently, Mr. Namey added.

"A victim may rely on an abuser financially, and that plus the stress of foreclosures, credit card debts and other economic issues can put more stress on the relationship."

An April survey of 600 domestic violence shelters by Mary Kay Inc., the cosmetics giant, found three-quarters of them citing an increased demand for assistance since September 2008 -- with financial issues, stress and job loss blamed for the rise.

Teasing out the clues to increases in domestic violence is complicated, however.

"For example, demand goes up every time there's a high-profile case in the news," Mr. Namey noted. "It increases public awareness and spurs more people to reach out for help."

Still, after officials at the Pittsburgh shelter started noticing a jump in the numbers after the recession hit in September 2008, they decided to ask victims whether the abuse was tied to job losses or financial worries. As of July, 68 percent have said yes.

"We never used to ask that question," Ms. Regan said. "And I wouldn't want anyone to think that's the only reason why there's abuse, but in families with financial difficulties, it just makes an already tense situation that much harder."

The city foundations that fund the shelter and other social service organizations are all too aware of the shelter's difficulties.

"It's a quiet crisis that's being experienced by all nonprofits," said John Ellis, a spokesman for The Pittsburgh Foundation, one of the shelter's biggest supporters. A year ago, the foundation set up a $1 million Neighbor-Aid emergency fund to help the shelter and other nonprofits cope with the effects of the recession, he said. And the foundation's next newsletter, coming out in a few weeks, will focus on domestic violence "because it's a critical issue made considerably worse by the current economic situation," he added.

In the West Mifflin woman's case, battles over money prompted her partner's abuse to skyrocket, she said.

After being injured on the job in 2007, she filed for workers' compensation, but her claim was denied. She appealed, and when she lost in court in September, her partner of six years, who worked nights and was a drug abuser, became increasingly violent.

After leaving and returning to him many times, she tried to break off the relationship for good this fall. He ignored a protection-from-abuse order and one night, when he wanted money, "he climbed in my bedroom window and I found him lying on my bed," she said. When he realized she had none, he flew into a rage.

"I couldn't enable him anymore," she said, noting that she had lived on her savings while her appeal was pending, but "when I lost the appeal, he saw his income being cut in half, and he couldn't take that."

Now there's a new worry: Because a $300,000, three-year grant that helps women obtain transitional housing recently expired, the shelter is having trouble helping her find a place to live once her allotted time at the shelter expires at the end of this month. Women are permitted to stay up to 45 days, sometimes longer if a housing opportunity is imminent, said Dr. Leslie Slagel, manager of direct services.

"Once we used to be able to pay their security deposit and first month's rent. Not anymore," she added.

"Everyone here is trying to find housing, but it's really tough," the West Mifflin woman said. "I have no idea where I'm going to go. It's like Fort Knox here, and I thank God they took me in, but I really need a safe place to live."

She's not optimistic.

"Overall, people feel less hopeful when they call us than they used to -- they tell us they don't know where they're going to find employment, they're really afraid and I can understand why," Ms. Regan said, adding that she's particularly worried with the holiday season approaching.

"We will do everything we can to help families stay safe," she said. "Even if we don't have room, we'll find a way."

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