Social agencies suffering fatigue

Social agencies are buckling under mounting pressure from people seeking welfare assistance in Queenstown.

Salvation Army’s director of community ministries, Lieutenant Andrew Wilson, said while much of New Zealand was ‘‘getting back to life as we knew it’’, the Queenstown

Lakes region was not so fortunate.

He said each day more than 200 people were registering with the Civil Defence welfare programme, and 7000 had received some type of support over the last three months.

Robyn Francis, house manager at community support centre Happiness House, said agencies had worked tirelessly throughout the Covid-19 alert levels, attending to unprecedented numbers of people affected by the pandemic.

Demand had continued

to increase unabated, she said.

‘‘We are bracing for further waves of redundancies and hardship as more businesses have to let migrant staff go due to immigration policy,’’ Francis said.

‘‘While we are happy when Kiwis get jobs, we feel there has not been adequate provision made for migrants who, in many cases, are not able to return to their country of origin. Many are effectively stranded here, with no place to go.’’

Due to international

border closures, much of the local economy remains in lockdown and economics researcher Infometrics estimates 7900 people in the region would lose their job as a result.

Most are migrants, unable to return home and unable to access Government support.

Volunteering Central’s senior co-ordinator, Gillian White, said organisations helping out during lockdown were now having to balance business as usual alongside heightened demand for basic welfare needs.

It was clear that welfare needs would be high ‘‘for the foreseeable future’’, White said.

Central Lakes Family Service social worker Heather Clay said many agencies were showing signs of fatigue.

‘‘We are exhausted, having worked near 24/7 for 12 weeks. The people we are assisting are now also exhausted, afraid and losing hope. They need to be given the means to support themselves, so they’re less dependent on our services.’’