13 September – With the rising costs of living impacting each and every one of our everyday lives, the impacts are felt even more with families and individuals who are currently facing significant hardships.
With more than 20,000 people contacting Bethany Community Support each year asking for help, we are seeing new families who have never had to seek support before, and those whose normal struggles, are exasperated even more across a challenging year. The prolonged impacts of the pandemic, increasing costs of living and interest rates rising – will mean that many families, particularly those from Geelong’s northern suburbs, will be feeling these pressures acutely at the moment.
Bethany’s Emergency Relief program helps low and fixed-income individuals and families who need assistance quickly. We can help with short-term financial relief – like food vouchers and bill payments and also referrals to financial counselling services and other services you may need.
Recently, the APCO Foundation partnered with Bethany, to provide $10,000 worth of petrol gift cards, that can be used at APCO petrol stores in Geelong and Warrnambool to help Bethany to support people who were really feeling the impact of current petrol prices.
These gift cards will allow immediate relief to more than 200 families who are currently struggling to make ends meet.
How to access Emergency Relief at Bethany
Intakes for appointments are over the phone only at 9am on Monday. No referral is required. Please phone (03) 52788122 at 9am on Mondays. The demand for emergency relief is high and appointments are limited. The program is designed to assist you once. If you need ongoing support, we can help connect you with other services like financial counselling services, government concessions, and grants, as well as other organisations that offer emergency relief and food relief.