from the September 11 terrorist attacks that pushed them from their offices, punching costly gaps in their ability to provide services and earn money.

Charity officials in need of temporary office space, cell phones, and laptop computers fanned out across the city, working from home or in space borrowed from other nonprofit groups or businesses. They tried to assess the physical damage to their organizations’ computers, telephone systems, and other office equipment. And they tried to keep working.

For some, the disruptions were severe, but temporary. Without working phones, a battered-women’s shelter was unable to operate its hotline for a week, and thousands of poor New Yorkers who count on the services of a nonprofit legal-aid group couldn’t contact their advocates for days.

For others, the disruptions created financial losses even beyond the cost of moving, cleaning up, or replacing office equipment. The cancellation of performances cost a nonprofit theater company $40,000 in lost rental income. Delays to a construction project at a gay and lesbian center will add an extra $30,000 in expenses. And a group that helps victims of crime and abuse expects money it earns from government contracts to shrink because it has had trouble meeting its contractual obligations to provide services, such as tending to a certain number of kids at its children’s centers.

The full extent of both the financial and physical damage to nonprofit groups is unknown. Charity coalitions, foundations, and organizations that provide management advice and other help to nonprofit groups have been compiling lists of Lower Manhattan’s charities and the needs they may now face, but they say a final tally may never be known.

At least a handful of organizations were housed in the World Trade Center’s towers or in other buildings that were nearly destroyed by the attacks. Among them: the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which raises money to fight cystic fibrosis; the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, an arts group; and Helen Keller Worldwide, which works to prevent blindness in neglected and developing areas of the world. No staff members were lost at those organizations, but the groups must now restart operations from scratch in borrowed or new space.

Helen Keller Worldwide — whose domestic program, ChildSight, provides free vision screenings and eyeglasses to middle-school children from low-income families — estimates that it lost some $500,000 in eyeglass lenses. It also lost computers, records, a much-beloved bust of Helen Keller displayed in the charity’s reception area, and many of Ms. Keller’s letters, including some containing her observations about the obligation to combat fascism and violence. The charity was located in a building across the street from the World Trade Center towers.

“We had things in the office that are heartbreaking to have gone,” says John Palmer, president of Helen Keller Worldwide, which has a projected annual budget this year of $25-million. In all, says Mr. Palmer, it will cost nearly $2-million to recover losses and move into new quarters. For now, many of Helen Keller’s 50 New York employees are working out of offices donated by a board member’s company.

Dozens of other charities were in buildings that sustained structural damage or so much smoke and water damage that it is unclear whether the organizations will ever be able to reclaim their offices. Hundreds more nonprofit groups, which were shut out of their offices for a week or more, have returned to dust-filled rooms, broken windows, damaged computers, and spotty telephone service and electricity.

Outside the area where the attacks took their physical toll, charities around the city are feeling its repercussions, too. With New York’s economy reeling from the impact of severe losses in its financial district and in other industries, charity officials say they are bracing for increased demand for their services and, at the same time, greater difficulty raising money.

Beverly Cheuvront, director of communications at the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, says that many of her group’s 1,200 member soup kitchens and pantries were already beginning to serve more people because of this year’s economic slump. Now, she says, with more people out of work, the need for emergency food relief will continue to grow.

“There are thousands of people who lost wage-earning family members, and there are thousands more low-wage earners who lost access to jobs,” says Ms. Cheuvront, pointing, for example, to restaurants and other service-sector businesses in Lower Manhattan that have closed or laid off workers.

Tuhina De O’Connor, executive director of the New York Asian Women’s Center, which serves victims of domestic violence and their families, says the incidence of domestic violence tends to go up after disasters because more people face personal stress and financial difficulties.

“We plan to be ready to reach out to people who need us, but we are worried about funds,” Ms. O’Connor says. The women’s center canceled its November fund-raising event, she says, and the group has heard from donors who say they are not sure how much money they will give this year, both because of concerns about the economy and because they have already made contributions to disaster-relief efforts.

Ms. O’Connor and other local charity officials say they are also concerned about the government money they receive. Since many of the city’s agencies that provide support to nonprofit groups have turned their attention to the disaster, charity officials say money may be siphoned away from their causes. They also worry about short-term cash-flow problems as government offices deal with the same delays and disruptions plaguing much of the city.

“Logistically, the question is: Can they pay us on time?” says Ms. O’Connor. About 80 percent of the women’s center’s $1.5-million annual budget comes from government sources, she says.

But New York’s nonprofit groups, even those not directly involved in helping the disaster-relief efforts, may be able to find some relief of their own. Among the organizations that are offering their help:

The New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City, which have so far raised $120-million for their September 11th Fund, have pledged an undetermined portion of the fund to help charities hurt by the terrorist attacks. The United Way, which has a list so far of more than 130 Lower Manhattan charities that may have had to relocate at least temporarily, last week began to distribute grant-application forms to nonprofit groups.
The Fund for the City of New York, which makes grants and loans to city charities, is also taking special requests for post-disaster grants. The organization has not set aside a specific portion of its $25-million annual budget for the effort, but it has established a separate fund, the Rebuild New York Fund, that will be dedicated to helping charities recover from the attacks.
The Nonprofit Finance Fund, which provides financial services and loans to nonprofit organizations, is asking foundations, government agencies, and area banks to pledge a total of $30-million to create the Nonprofit Recovery Fund. The Nonprofit Finance Fund would assess charities’ financial needs, and administer the money, giving out packages of low-interest loans, grants, and reimbursable cash advances.
NPowerNY, a New York organization that provides technology assistance to other charities, is matching charities in need of computer equipment and technical help with corporations that have offered their products or expertise. The group has helped distribute items such as computers, printers, and prepaid phone cards.

MFY Legal Services, which provides free legal aid to the poor, elderly, and mentally ill, last week was expecting to get six laptop computers through NPower. More than two weeks after the disaster, MFY’s office, in a building six blocks north of where the World Trade Center towers stood, was still without telephone service. And the air quality in the building was so poor that many of the group’s 58 employees were meeting with clients at other locations. The laptops, says MFY’s executive director, Lynn M. Kelly, would allow the group to do more of its work away from the office. But, she says, if problems with the office persist, the group may have to consider buying more portable computers and cell phones or, perhaps, relocating its headquarters.

“We don’t know if we have a two-week problem or a two-month problem, or more,” Ms. Kelly says. “When will the phone lines be up? When will the air clear? When will we be able to be fully open for business?”

And, she adds, noting that evictions typically increase and more questions about eligibility for government assistance usually arise as the economy sours: “The reality is that we are struggling to get back on our feet just as there will be an onslaught of new cases to handle.”

Grant Williams contributed to this article.