By CASEY NEILL
Families struggle to meet their most basic needs…
A BED to sleep in is something most people take for granted.
But Pakenham Salvation Army Lieutenant Sonia Jeffrey said more people were going without this basic comfort.
“People come and see us for furniture, particularly, and bedding and clothing,” she said.
“The most pressing need for people is always beds, something to sleep on.
“Families come and kids have been sleeping on floors and in one room.”
Lieutenant Jeffrey is urging locals to dig deep this weekend to support the Red Shield Appeal.
“Right across the outer suburbs there’s just people finding it more and more difficult to balance their budget,” she said.
“We’re not seeing, necessarily, mums and dads always.
“We’re often seeing grandma who’s taken on responsibility of her son’s children or her daughter’s children.”
“We’re seeing more family violence, more custody stuff, more single dads coming in.”
Lieutenant Jeffrey said not everyone who approached them was on welfare – some have lost their jobs, others have a sick child.
“They’re just struggling,” she said.
She said renting in the outer suburbs was no longer necessarily cheaper, and was often about $350 a week for a new home.
“For some people, if they’re on a Centrelink benefit that’s all of their money,” she said.
“They fill the car with petrol then they don’t have any money for groceries and bits and pieces.
“Housing’s a massive issue, it’s a growing issue across Cardinia.”
Lieutenant Jeffrey said people often asked the Salvos for money to cover their rent.
“We don’t physically give people money,” she said.
“But we might be able to assist with a bill or assist with prescription glasses through deals we have with other places – free up funds for things that they really need.”
The corps also runs the 10-week Positive Lifestyle Program to help people struggling with unemployment, and drug and alcohol abuse.
Lieutenant Jeffrey said demand was growing.
“We have people referred out to us through the court system – people who need to make change in the way they live their life,” she said.
The corps also delivers toys to kids at Christmas and helps people after disaster strikes.
“I assisted a family whose house burnt down at the start of the year, in Pakenham,” she said.
“We refurnished the house for them. Everything was either smoke or water damaged.”
Lieutenant Jeffrey said the Red Shield Appeal would support long-term Salvation Army projects tackling homelessness, unemployment and drug and alcohol abuse.
“If some of those state-wide or nation-wide projects are funded by public money, it frees up local money for us,” she said.
Lieutenant Jeffrey’s members will collect donations at Pakenham Marketplace, Bunnings, Heritage Springs and train stations, and residents have been provided with kits to collect cash in their own streets.
The Red Shield Appeal doorknock weekend is on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May.
Donations can be made to 13 SALVOS (13 72 58), salvationarmy.org.au or at any Westpac Bank branch.
