In the past year, more than 900 individuals and families have turned to Uniting’s emergency relief service in Prahran for help. 350 of them seeking support for the first time.
For Rudi, food insecurity meant skipping meals, and sometimes entire days of eating, just to get by.
At 57, Rudi was forced to give up work due to several complex health issues. Now 66, her government pension is barely enough to cover her needs, and finding food is a daily worry.
“Food insecurity is about far more than hunger. It affects health, relationships, confidence and family memories,” says Rudi.
“It creates stress, shame and exhaustion. It changes how people shop, cook, eat and think. Some of its effects are visible, but many remain hidden.
“It is the constant worry of whether what you have will last until the next payment. The mental arithmetic that never stops, and the quiet decisions that nobody else sees.”
Rudi was skeptical when her disability support worker suggested she visit Uniting in Prahran for support.
“Asking for help is hard,” she shares. “[In the past] when I needed help it wasn’t there. I was treated as an inconvenience, a non-entity.”
Still, Rudi decided to give Uniting a chance. “I had an interview, and they took me through the food pantry, and it was a totally different experience,” she says.
A year on, Uniting has supported Rudi through community meals, access to groceries and help to gain subsidies for energy bills, support that has made a meaningful difference in her life.
“Since coming to Uniting, I have never felt judged,” she says. “Not once. That may sound like a small thing, but when you have struggled financially there can be a great deal of embarrassment attached to asking for help.
“Rather than making me feel like a recipient of charity, they have helped me feel part of a community. They have provided not only food, but also connection, respect and a sense that I matter.
“That has made a difference far beyond the value of the meal or the groceries themselves.”
