“Demand for services such as budgeting support, senior citizens groups, meals on wheels, crisis and long term counselling are seeing increased demand due to the effects of COVID-19. The social service organisations providing these services are but a few of the groups that have been bolstered by trust funding this grants round,” says Trust Chief Executive, Susan Finlay.
The trust approved over $1million worth of largely operational grants and say that funds for social services are not new to the trust.
“We are one of the few funders to provide additional dollars to social services so they may operate at the required level to support our community, and we have a long history of doing so, dating back almost the full 20 years since the trust began in 2000,” she says.
“Now more than ever it is essential for our community that these services are funded to meet demand through the times ahead,” she says.
Central Lakes Family Services, would be one of the first to agree.
Centre Manager, Tina Mongston concurs, “We are experiencing an increased need for mild to moderate mental health support for families and individuals and alongside this, we are also seeing more mental health and alcohol related issues presenting with our family violence referrals. Covid-19 has placed a great deal of pressure on families and we have prepared the service for the recovery process acknowledging that it will be long and we are yet to see the full impact on the region. CLT has been supporting us since 2002 and we are extremely grateful for the consistent ongoing support they have provided over the years. The continued need for our services has become more evident over the years, but under the current environment there is a high demand for support in our community.”
The service operates out of Queenstown, Alexandra, Wanaka and Cromwell, amongst the worst hit and most challenged regions in the country.
Happiness House, who provide practical support and advocacy, agency referrals, access to affordable clothing and bedding and more recently counselling for families and individuals in the Wakatipu area, have also seen an increase in demand.
Happiness House Manager, Robyn Francis says, “We could not be more grateful for the support of CLT, it is very reassuring to know that we have a solid foundation of funding towards our costs over the coming year. While we anticipate a reduction in community donations as the harsh realities of the economic downturn set in, we have experienced some generous donations from individuals and organisations motivated to be able to do something for their community in the wake of COVID-19, this has enabled us to extend a free counselling service to those in need for which we are also grateful.”
“Our grants from the trust date back to 2001, we are hugely grateful for their support over the years, and very lucky to have them in this region,” she says.
Alexandra Community Advice Network Inc. whom also received their first grant from the trust back in 2001, last week received a grant of $10,000 per annum for the next three years to support operations.
“For groups we have supported for some time, we are providing multi-year grants so they have some certainty for the future, in what is an uncertain time,” Finlay says.
The Community Advice Network employ only one person for 10 hours a week coordinating approximately 2500 hours of volunteer work a year, which helped 2,658 people last year.
Alexandra Community Advice Network Treasurer, Graeme Parr says, “We provide free advice to all residents, to ensure people are aware of services available to them, and they are not adversely affected by lack of knowledge or an ability to communicate. We coordinate access to a free JP, legal services and meals on wheels.”
“While the full impact of Covid-19 is yet to be felt, we expect an increased demand for our services especially from those who have lost steady employment or whose business income has been adversely affected. The service is well placed to direct client enquiries to legal assistance and social services and will endeavour to source help related to business, employment or commercial queries as well,” he says.
Central Otago Budgeting Services also receive funding to provide community education and financial and housing mentoring to people in vulnerable situations.
“Resolving financial stress can have significant impacts in other areas of people’s lives such as mental health and family wellbeing. It’s expected all of our free services will likely be in high demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Office Manager, Pam Hughes.
This first funding round of the 2020/21 financial year sees over $1million approved with an additional $3million in commitments from other years also allocated. A total of $4.09m of the $9.40 million grants budget has been allocated to date.
Since the trust commenced 20 years ago, it has returned over $100 million back into the community.
The trust offices remain closed to the public, however all the team are working in the office or remotely under level 2. In the first instance please call us on 0800 0011 37.