Money Mentors

The increased cost-of-living and the financial ramifications of Covid have resulted in a new group of clients using our financial mentoring services this year.

This past year we have worked with an increased number of whānau who have never before accessed a budget advice service. Some of these are employed and may even own their own homes but are struggling financially due to the rapid rise in the cost-of-living. Others have been relatively comfortably off before experiencing a drop in income due to redundancy or a cut back in work hours.

For many of these people, reaching out for help is a new thing. They don’t understand how government agencies work and often find they don’t qualify for help anyway. Also noticeable is the number of clients presenting with complex needs such as mental health issues, high debt, food insecurity, and unstable housing situations. These add, not only to the number of client sessions, but to the length of each one.

The increase in the number of sessions has led to an increase in workload and hours for our financial mentors. Lockdown added to this further with isolating clients needing food deliveries or online “wellbeing” sessions. There are plans to add to our mentoring team.