The Salvation Army is feeling the pinch in the South Island with demand for food parcels and social work sessions up more than 100% since the start of the recession.
The organisation believes the pressure will continue for at least the next two years as the economy remains sluggish and a housing crisis hits Christchurch.
Head of South Island social services Major Mike Allwright said welfare centres were running "at full steam" to maintain services.
"To come to the Salvation Army, you actually have to be desperate. If the Salvation Army has seen an increase right across the board, it must be getting harder," he said.
The number of budgeting sessions supplied by the army in the South Island jumped from 262 in the first quarter of 2008, to 712 in the first quarter of this year, a 172% increase.
Social work sessions followed a similar increase (170%), as they leapt from 986 in the first quarter of 2008, to 2658 in the first quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, practical assistance services, which include supplying furniture, bedding and clothing, increased 218%, from 202 to 642 in the corresponding periods.
Demand for food parcels also increased, going from 1760 to 3664, a 108% increase.
In Dunedin, parcels given out totalled 389 in the 2008 first quarter, compared with 487 this year, a 25% increase; Queenstown experienced a 40% increase in demand, going from 50 to 70.
However, smaller centres experienced greater increases, with Alexandra facing a 91% increase, from 71 to 136 parcels, and Gore had a 179% increase, from 24 parcels to 67.
Maj Allwright said the "dramatic" increases were due to the combination of the recession causing ongoing hardship, and Christchurch earthquake refugees moving to smaller centres, often with nothing more than they could fit in their cars.
"A lot of people just got up and left without taking anything with them. Prior to the earthquakes, more and more families were coming to us with increasingly complex problems relating to job losses, reduced work hours and the resulting debt. Following the earthquakes, demand has soared, including a growing number of middle-income earners affected by the quakes," he said.
About 3000 people fled to Invercargill, resulting in demand for food parcels from the Invercargill Community Ministries welfare centre trebling for the second quarter of 2011.
Support from the public and companies was critical to responding to the human cost of the earthquakes, but funding challenges remained, Maj Allwright said.
"We are still receiving a lot of donations of clothes, furniture and food, which is fantastic, because we need that, but we also need to staff our welfare centres across the South Island."
The Salvation Army launched its Red Shield Appeal yesterday with all proceeds helping run the army's Community Ministries welfare centres.
"Our donors are a crucial part of our team. Without their support, our services could offer little more than token relief to those living in desperate circumstances."
