A national spotlight will shine on Sacramento today, and the images promise to be less than flattering.

In a program about the recession and a growing homeless population, the wildly popular "Oprah Winfrey Show" this afternoon is featuring California's capital city, among other venues. The program will include interviews with struggling families at the Cal Expo and St. John's shelters, shots of homeless children at the Mustard Seed School at Loaves & Fishes and a sprawling "tent city" near the Blue Diamond almond factory where hundreds of men and women sleep every night.

The episode airs at 4 p.m. on KCRA Channel 3 and at 9 p.m. on KQCA My58.

Disturbing as the subject matter may be, homeless advocates said they are thrilled about the attention.

"It should be an eye-opener for everybody," said Joan Burke, director of advocacy for Loaves & Fishes, which offers meals and various other services for the homeless, including a family shelter, various recovery programs and a medical clinic.

"But we shouldn't just be shocked, we should take action to change things, because it's unacceptable," Burke said. "It is unacceptable that in this day and age we have gone back to a situation like we had during the Great Depression."

Her agency and other nonprofit groups that serve homeless people are "overwhelmed," she said, with demand for their services even as donations lag in a wilting economy.

St. John's shelter for women and children, for example, is turning away more than 230 people each day, nearly triple the number from last year, said director Michele Steeb. Many report that they have never been homeless before, said Steeb.

"People tend to think that the face of homelessness is the person standing at the freeway exit who doesn't want to work," Steeb said. "That is not the face of homelessness today. Many of these are people who once had jobs, but no longer can find work."

Perhaps the national exposure, she and others said, will bring pressure on government officials to try new approaches to dealing with homeless people.

Among the ideas Sacramento's leaders are discussing is a legal encampment that would allow chronically homeless people to live on the open land safely, with basic services, and without fear of being ticketed or rousted by police.

That is one of the goals of a Sacramento attorney, Mark Merin, who has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of homeless people. He is discussing the possibility of a sanctioned "tent city" with city and county leaders, and said he is hopeful such a community will be established. Mayor Kevin Johnson has said he thinks the idea has merit, although other city leaders have been reluctant to weigh in publicly.

"It's unfortunate that Sacramento has such a dire situation that it is getting national attention for it," Merin said of the "Oprah" program. "But it also gives us an opportunity. It's time for us to demonstrate some leadership to tackle a problem that is increasing in severity."

Mayor Johnson agreed.

"We need to do more to tackle this issue, not just with government but with a citywide effort involving business, nonprofits and other communities in the region," he told the Bee.

Advocates also hope the television program will lead to a boost in donations and volunteers.

"I think it's wonderful that Oprah and her crew are giving a voice to this crisis," Steeb said. "The crisis is much bigger than Sacramento, and the bottom line is we need help to serve the huge number of people that we are now seeing."

Burke said Winfrey's producers contacted Loaves & Fishes earlier this month, and said they singled out Sacramento because of its high number of home foreclosures and its growing homeless population.

"I told them that we had a system of care that was overwhelmed even before the recession hit, and that we now are seeing more newly homeless people than ever before."

Soon, a crew was on the way.

Among the "newly homeless" featured in the show will be Favor Whitesides, who is 36 years old and has three children ages 9 to 13.

Whitesides and her husband, Ryan, lost their home last year after they got in over their heads on an adjustable mortgage, she said. She now lives at the Family Promise shelter at Loaves & Fishes. Her children attend Mustard Seed School. Her husband is bunking with friends.

After living in hotels, run-down apartments and at the Cal Expo winter shelter for a time, Whitesides said, she is grateful to have found Family Promise.

But she never thought she would need such a program.

"Not long ago, we had a Lincoln Navigator and a beautiful home. We had it all," said Whitesides. "It's really shocking for my kids to be living this way. But they're resilient. They'll be OK."

Whitesides is hardly proud of her situation but said she thought it was important to tell her story. "People need to know that this can happen, and about programs like this," she said of Loaves & Fishes.

The film crew also spent time at Mustard Seed, where 20 to 25 homeless children go to school each day, said director Angela Hassell. "This winter especially, it seems like there are fewer places for people to go to for shelter," Hassell said.

She worries about the children who disappear after attending school for a few days or weeks, she said. "Enrollment fluctuates every day because of the transient situation that these kids are in," she said. "We just try to do the best we can for them when they are here, and hopefully they move on to better circumstances. But lots of times we just don't know."

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.