ELEVENTH-hour funding has prevented UnitingCare Wodonga from losing its financial counsellor, who helps more than 30 clients each month.
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The federal government contributed $150,000 toward the service, sustaining it until July next year.
Sandra Blake works as the full-time counsellor at St Stephen's Church and hoped another would come on board twice a week to do outreach in smaller towns.
“In the last three days, I have seen 16 new families or clients seeking assistance,” she said.
“A lot of people have no idea just how much poverty there is in Wodonga.”
She said financial counselling differed to advising as it was free and didn't “tell people what to do”.
Counselling usually applies to people with no money and offers options to help them get back on top of their finances.
Mrs Blake, who has worked with UnitingCare since 2011, said the demand had been increasing.
The only other financial counsellor in Wodonga is at Upper Murray Family Care.
“We both are on four days a week and both have waiting lists, for me it’s about two weeks wait,” Mrs Blake said.
Reasons people experienced financial difficulty and often ended up at UnitingCare included a loss of job, illness, injury, family breakdown or poor choices.
Mrs Blake said several residents had been caught out by consumer leases, such as shops offering to rent an appliance until it was eventually paid off.
The final cost of the item was usually not disclosed to the customer.
She said utility costs had also hit people hard.
“Electricity prices have risen, in the last six years they have tripled and disconnection has increased five-fold,” she said.
“I had a client on an aged pension who had been disconnected for five months, she couldn't pay electricity because of the commitment she had to consumer leases.
“People can end up paying three times the amount the item should cost through consumer leases.
“Another aged pensioner was disconnected from gas for 11 months, and she went through winter without hot water or cooking.
“I think we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg because people don't know we exist.”
People needing free assistance should visit UnitingCare Wodonga or call Financial Counselling Australia on 1800 007 007.
