Christmas Appeal: Tauranga woman speaks out about seeking help from foodbank

It is increasingly difficult for people who live alone to manage with the rising cost of living. Photo / Getty Images

Embarrassed, anxious and alone.

Those were the emotions that overcame a 35-year-old Mount Maunganui woman after she realised she would not be able to afford food for the week.

Emily*, not her real name, was unable to work for mental health-related reasons. She stopped working about six months earlier and was receiving a disability allowance from Work and Income.

In September, she found herself with no money after paying to move house, buying a warrant for her car and covering her rent all in the same week.

As a single person living alone, Emily had paid the “full share of power, water, rent and food” and that week needed help to cover basic costs. Her rent was more than half of her weekly income, she said.

Emily said she did not know where to turn for help - feeling embarrassed, “anxious and at a loss”.

“I found myself in a situation I have never been in before and I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, when you are on limited income one little thing tips you over the edge,” she said.

“I was feeling helpless because it was such a new experience. I was down to the last few bits and pieces - living on peanut butter toast.

“I do have friends and family I can ask - but sometimes when it comes to the financial difficulty it’s just the stigma. It’s embarrassing to ask for help.”

Single people account for 37 per cent of Tauranga Community Foodbank clients. The service says those who have to cover the increasing living costs on one income have been hit hard.

Help for Emily came after a friend referred her to the Here to Help U website - a support service that has reported a 72 per cent increase in requests since the week ending November 20.

She filled out a form about what type of support she needed and a staff member phoned her soon after. Emily described the team as “absolute angels”.

“I just needed an immediate food parcel to tide me over for a few days and I didn’t have to do anything - they took all the pressure out of my hands.”

The “incredible” staff member contacted the foodbank on her behalf and ensured her food parcel would meet her dietary needs, she said. They also referred her to a budgeting service that had since helped her cut down on weekly outgoing costs, she said.

Emily started crying when she arrived at the foodbank to pick up groceries because she felt “so embarrassed”.

That emotion subsided thanks to the kindness of the volunteers.

“These people are just willing to help. They weren’t judgmental. They were kind and compassionate. I did cry but she [the volunteer] just patted me on the shoulder and told me it was going to be okay.”

Emily had given to the foodbank many times in the past- dropping biscuits and other treats into donation boxes outside supermarkets.

However, she did not think she would need support herself and when she did had “no idea” how to access it.

“I am forever grateful for the foodbank assistance. I have always been a donor, but I have never known how to receive,” she said.

“I encourage everyone to support the foodbank because you never know when you may need them.”

Here to Help U connector Sarah Baldock. Photo / Mead Norton

Here to Help U connector Sarah Baldock said the service had experienced a “huge increase” in demand for food, employment, budgeting and mental health support in recent weeks.

The free service, manned by three staff, was established by the Wise Group in June last year. It connected people in Tauranga and the Western Bay with free wellbeing and social support.

Baldock said many requests were coming from people “who had never reached out for support before”.

This year the service referred 5055 people from across Tauranga and the Western Bay to agencies for food support.

Baldock said some people who were asking for help for the first time felt “very ashamed and whakama”.

“Some people worry that there are others who are possibly worse off than they are and more in need of support.”

But she said many had “exhausted all options for coping” and with “bare cupboards feel they have no choice left but to reach out for help”.

“We reassure people and whānau that they are not alone in needing to ask for help for the first time and that we are getting a lot of requests for help from people who are struggling for the first time.”

Staff took the time to understand clients’ needs, ensuring they could access “holistic, wrap-around” support to complement help from the foodbank, she said.

And in November the service became the biggest referrer of people and whānau to the foodbank.

Baldock said most people needed food support and financial mentoring having “exhausted all their savings after struggling all year and now have nothing left”.

People were often in employment and “just above” the threshold for getting support from Work and Income but had been financially set back by sickness or an unexpected bill.

“Connectors are hearing a lot of distress when we call people to arrange the support they need - there are a lot of tears and very stressed and strained voices on the phone.”

Felicity Beadle, of Wise Group, previously told the Bay of Plenty Times the foodbank was Here to Help U’s main provider, with most referrals going through to it.

Beadle said the service averaged 55 cases a month last year, but this year that had nearly quadrupled because of a significant spike in March during the Omicron outbreak.

“Numbers have remained high after the Omicron peak, with cases averaging 202 per month.”

Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin. Photo / Mead Norton

Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said it had seen a “huge increase” of single people without dependents needing food support over the past 10 years - this demographic now represents about 37 per cent of clients.

One of the main reasonswas rising rents, which individuals had to pay on their own, she said.

“It’s definitely a concern and statistically, we are seeing that group needing more support in recent years with housing go out of control.”

She said accommodation supplements had not “kept up” with growing rent costs and for those in full-time employment rent often was well over half of their weekly income.

Trade Me figures for October show the median weekly rent in Tauranga rose $55 in a year to $650 — a record and higher than Wellington ($620) and Auckland ($610) for that month. In October last year, it was $595.

How to get in touch with Here to Help U:

If you, your family member, or someone you know needs free wellbeing support, visit www.heretohelpu.nz where you can submit a help request within minutes. Those without internet access can leave a message on freephone 0800 568 273.