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BUTLER COUNTY — A day after graduating from high school, Aric Calvelage sat in an East Avenue office clad in a black suit and red tie.

The 18-year-old wasn't at a job interview. Homeless for weeks before settling a court dispute with his mother, he was at Serve City, a homeless shelter.

"Most people my age in my situation would be devastated. I'm just rolling with the punches,'' said Calvelage.

Calvelage and Amanda Grossman, who still lives at Serve City, are among a growing number of Butler County residents seeking help from area shelters. The number of homeless county residents has been on the rise in the past three years, Serve City Director Linda Kimble said.

And given the sluggish economy, an upswing in foreclosures, soaring gas and food prices, Kimble expects the trend to continue.

Serve City officials assisted nearly 450 homeless residents in the area last year and expect to surpass that number this year.

"We're running at capacity most days,'' Kimble said. "We're seeing more people who need help and they're staying here longer.''

Other shelters are seeing similar trends. Transitional Living in Hamilton and Hope House Rescue Mission in Middletown are full as well.

"We're seeing an increase in 18- to 21-year-olds, increases among the elderly and the foreclosures are having an impact,'' said Kathy Becker, director of Transitional Living, which provides housing for people with mental health issues.

Becker and Kimble said the parents of young adults simply don't have the funds to help youth the way the previous generation helped their children.

Grossman, who has lived at Serve City for four months, said living in a homeless shelter is her only option.

"My mom is struggling and she has been struggling my entire life. Even if I wanted to go home I couldn't,'' Grossman said. "She can't take care of myself and my brother right now.''

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2180 or tlatta@coxohio.com.