As the season of giving approaches no one has been more affected by the cost of living than the more vulnerable, the numbers of whom continue to grow due to the unavailability and unaffordability of rentals.

The rental crisis is in part due to individuals moving into regional areas because they could work from home during COVID-19 and people purchasing investment properties.

Local service ac.care has been contracted to see 400 clients in a 12 month period yet have already reached their quota in half the allocated time, but cannot stop seeing clients.

ac.care homelessness and community services manager Trish Spark said she was seeing people struggling more than ever before, as well as an increase in the amount of people impacted.

“I would say it has been a good 12 months and it is just getting worse all the time,” she said.

“I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think it is going to be 12-18 months before we see any change or things being easier for people.

“The quantity of rentals is not the only reason, they are just not there and public housing availability is really low as well, so people are finding that difficult.

“On top of that for people who have got a property, it is the cost of living (that is difficult) like the cost of eating, electricity bills, kids’ expenses, petrol et cetera.”

Mrs Spark said not only was it tough for those struggling, it was also tough on ac.care staff.

“We are still doing our pick-ups from Aldi and Coles and we still get fruit and vegetables through Foodbank, but it is just not lasting and we cannot keep up,” she said.

“Even our funding for emergency relief is not keeping up. We are overspent already so we are not able to help as many people as we would like to, so it has been pretty tough.

“Because of the complexity of our clients and the intense support they need, staff should have around 15 clients but instead they have between 30-40 and that could be a lot more.

“So, we have still got to see people, we have just got to look at what we can provide and which people we can take on as clients.

“We will keep seeing clients and we will probably keep getting bigger and bigger.”

ac.care is appealing for businesses and locals within the community to donate whatever they can to the organisation’s Christmas Cheer program.

Through the ac.care Christmas Cheer initiative Coles vouchers are given out to clients to purchase food for the holidays and sacks of toys are provided for children prior to Christmas.

The program is now ‘maxed out’ with the budget reached for 165 applicants and a wait list of 10-20 families.

ac.care homelessness case manager and Christmas Cheer manager Deanne Swift said the agency was appealing for donations of any kind and size but specifically vouchers, cash, non-perishable food, Christmas food and presents for children eight-years-old and above.

“Our budgets are all tapped out, we have exhausted every area so we are just relying on the community now to come together so we can give them some kind of a Christmas,” she said.

“We are still looking for more donations of food because there are going to be people that are going to come in and need something.

Ms Swift said ac.care was severely understocked for presents for children from the age of eight upward.

“We are really hoping that businesses in the area could do a giving tree or donate food or presents because we are relying heavily on the community.

“We are really reaching out to our community this year, I know everybody has got stretched money, but every little bit helps, even a can of food.”

Mrs Spark said that any donations would be welcomed.

“All year round we can do with food donations but on Christmas it is nice to get some real Christmas food donations, so people are actually having something special,” she said.

“Any of those special ones that you can only get at Christmas like Christmas pudding, pavlova, shortbread biscuits, fruit mince pies etc.

“It kind of makes it feel like a special time of year, especially for people with kids.”

Mrs Spark said the Mount Gambier community was extremely supportive and while they were constantly amazed at what people do, they always needed more.

“We are very appreciative of the assistance that we do get because every year we have got a lot of the same businesses providing, doing their Christmas trees, and giving food or whatever they want to do for us,” she said.

“We are not asking for people to donate huge amounts, do not think that anything is not enough.

“We do not expect people to give us hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of things, but we would be grateful for anything, even if you bring in a couple of tins of food that you do not need anymore.

“All of it will be really appreciated and if everybody is getting together and doing it then it will have a big impact on those who need it most.”