By Glen Atwell
“TO make ends meet” has a special meaning for Leanne Petrides and her team of passionate volunteers at the Cranbourne Information and Support Service (CISS).
For 30 years, the community information and support service has assisted residents with emergency food relief, no-interest loans, financial assistance and counselling, to name just a few of the endless list of support services on offer. Ms Petrides in her 10 years as manager of the Sladen Street facility has seen the meaning of ‘to make ends meet’ evolve from families being unable to afford luxuries such as instant coffee and chocolate to going without essentials to stay on top of increasing mortgage repayments and higher rental payments.
The proof is in the figures, and the alarming increase in the number of people walking through the doors of CISS every year.
In 2006-07, CISS assisted 3500 households requesting emergency aid. By the end of the 2007-08 financial year, that figure sky-rocketed by 500 to more than 4000. Emergency assistance can come in the form of food vouchers and parcels, petrol vouchers, Metlink tickets and discounts on utility bills.
Ms Petrides, a qualified psychologist, said in the climate of rising interest rates and increased prices at both the petrol bowser and the supermarket checkout, CISS routinely exhausted its allocation of emergency assistance vouchers by noon.
“We then offer food parcels, which contain no-name essentials such as cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, long-life milk and juice,” she said.
“Every year more and more people walk through our door, the problem of poverty is snowballing.
“The population is increasing, yet the average wages in and around Cranbourne have decreased in the last few years.
“People will hold on to their mortgages at any cost, and renters will go without food and other essentials just to stay on top of their bills.”
To put the plight of local poverty in perspective, on Monday 23 June CISS attended to the following requests for assistance:
– 17 families requiring assistance with food, three needing nappies and baby formula;
– Three single men needing assistance with food;
– Three single women needing assistance with food;
– One single father needing assistance with his children’s school costs;
– Two people with chronic illnesses requiring help with pharmacy costs; and
– Two homeless people seeking assistance with housing.
On that day, CISS had run out of food relief vouchers by just after noon and seven of the visitors who requested emergency food relief had come to CISS for the first time – a trend that was escalating, according to Ms Petrides.
In total, CISS helped 23 clients with counselling, four with financial counselling and another seven requesting general information.
“To walk through our doors and acknowledge that you’re struggling is a massive step for some people,” Ms Petrides said.
“We acknowledge that by offering non-judgmental assistance in a relaxing, respectful environment.”
CISS also operates a no-interest loan program, which allows struggling families to purchase whitegoods and other big-ticket household essentials without worrying about interest payments and a deposit.
Families then pay back an agreed amount every week, and Ms Petrides proudly boasts a default rate of less than two per cent.
“CISS has a better payment and loan completion rate than the banks,” she said.
“We loan up to $800 for appliances like fridges and washing machines, and repayments are made every week. It gives people a sense of satisfaction and achievement when they see the loan right through.”
Every one of the 25 active volunteers at CISS completed a nationally accredited training program and a lengthy probation period before sitting down to assist someone in need.
“The volunteers deal with challenging situations on a daily basis,” Ms Petrides said. “Aggressive clients and juggling emotions are hard tasks. Imagine going home to bed after telling a homeless person the safest places to sleep on the streets of Cranbourne.
“They deserve all the recognition they get.”
CISS is at 156A Sladen Street and can be contacted on 5996 3333.
