Gerald Lynch
Hume neighbourhood houses are seeing increased demand for help as the festive season approached.
Many residents are facing tough choices between covering basic needs and allocating funds for festive celebrations.
This has caused many locals, not only in Hume but also Whittlesea, to turn to their neighbourhood houses and the Salvation Army for assistance and support.
Banksia Gardens Community Gardens manager Rana Tbaileh said this year the demand for support is huge and volunteers are working tirelessly to ensure that no one in the community goes without the essentials during this challenging time.
“On a weekly basis, we support 150-160 families every week from our centres in Broadmeadows and Meadow Heights,” she said.
“The demand is increasing due to the rising cost of living.
“People are even coming across from different LGAs [local government area] to our service to receive food relief.”
Dallas Neighbourhood House manager Leanne Cacoyiannis said the increased demand is “really sad to see.”
“There has been a heavily increased demand, due to the current financial situation the state is in.
“We are supplying 130 parcels per week and giving out food to people that are coming in day by day for emergency relief of food.”
Goonawarra Neighbourhood House manager Isabella Rosinsky said the last six months the amount of requests for food relief has increased dramatically.
There is no doubt that cost of living is a factor, with some clients telling us they’ve never been in this situation before, and they hope it’s only temporary,” she said. “There is a great sense of embarrassment and shame among some of the clients.
“There are five other food relief providers in Sunbury, but regardless, the demand keeps increasing. All the food relief programs operate on specific days only, which can be a challenge to clients.”
Additionally, the Salvation Army has ramped up its commitments to provide support to families in need.
Salvation Army Major Rebecca Inglis said that the need for charity organisations this year is greater than ever across the state.
“Christmas is the busiest time of year for The Salvation Army, and we consider it a privilege to be able to support individuals and families right across the country with gifts and toys to make their Christmas that bit more special,” she said.
“Our hope at Christmas is for no one to have to do it alone.”
