At any given time, low- to extremely low-income families in Orange County, Calif., face the threat of becoming homeless or unable to put food on the table due to an unexpected misfortune, a severe health issue, marital split, or job loss. For many of these families, finding their way back to normalcy has been made possible by the work of Serving People in Need (SPIN), a Costa Mesa, California-based nonprofit dedicated to helping local residents with children get back on their feet. Until 2020, SPIN was serving approximately 350 families per year, but once the pandemic hit, those numbers shot up to 750 families in 2020, and more than 850 in 2021, according to the organization. SPIN Executive Director Stephanie Smolkin says there was a dramatic increase in Orange County residents who were furloughed or lost their jobs, either temporarily or permanently, resulting in a devastating, unanticipated impact on their …