The drastic effects of Covid-19 on the Queenstown community are far from over, social agency leaders are warning.
Queenstown Salvation Army officer Andrew Wilson is predicting a new wave of need come September, when the wage subsidy comes to an end.
At that time, many mortgage repayment holidays would cease and the Department of Internal Affairs would be finishing its migrant support work.
"It will be a very strong test of how New Zealand is without the sort of Government supports that are in place and how well we actually are in our pursuit to get back to standing on our own two feet."
This sentiment was echoed by Happiness House Community Support Centre manager Robyn Francis, the leader of the Wakatipu Basin’s only community drop-in centre.
She was particularly concerned about local families, many of whom had expensive mortgage repayments based on incomes before Covid-19.
This month, there had already been about 1000 people through the door looking seeking social and financial support, she said.
"A lot of them are on wage subsidies and if the wage subsidies don’t continue, we are very concerned about what’s going to happen ... there’s possibly going to be a new flood of people in dire straits needing support."
In the days before the pandemic, Mr Wilson said the kinds of issues people would come to the Salvation Army with were not what he would describe as "immediate".
"Most people who came for assistance were OK in terms of being able to put food on their table," he said.
Before Covid-19 hit, the support the organisation offered had been related more to mental and social issues than to finances; there was a real worry by those seeking help that they could not provide for themselves or their family.
"And so we had a lot of people present who had a range of anxieties, or a range of disappointments who needed someone to talk to. "
However, March’s border closures , and the start of a nearly two-month national lockdown meant need in the resort took a dramatic turn for the worse.
"During lockdown that almost flipped on its head, where almost every service that was requested of us was an immediate need, either food or winter clothing and bedding."
The Salvation Army Queenstown swiftly took a foodbank from what Mr Wilson described as a "room the size of some people’s walk-in wardrobes" to an "industrial" sized space in the Family Store in Gorge Rd.
He said the goal posts shifted with every alert level.
"So when we moved into Level 4, that was a huge demand on our services and our team had to reconfigure ourselves to that pace, that level.”
Over the past three months, the Salvation Army Queenstown had provided 1235 services to 634 people.
However, Mr Wilson said his team’s work had reached a bit of a lull as of late July.
Despite his predictions of a bigger storm to come, the father of two said he was constantly grateful for the number of other agencies in Queenstown that had banded together with a single goal in mind: supporting the community.
"So I know that if things do end up back on hard times, that this community does have the support network that will provide support to the people."
Ms Francis said Happiness House’s distribution of free produce had doubled that of last year.
"I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it. I think we’ve all been able to step up and manage it but we certainly have days when we walk away exhausted."
Since July 1, Red Cross New Zealand had also been working in Queenstown with the Department of Internal Affairs to provide support to people on temporary visas.
On Fridays, it worked at Happiness House as people visited the support centre to collect fresh produce food parcels.
Red Cross project leader Rachel O’Connor said it was important to have a presence.
Doing so gave the team an opportunity to tell people about the support they might be eligible for through Visitor Care Manaaki Manuhiri, a programme delivering assistance to help foreign nationals meet basic needs, such as food and accommodation.
Since the Red Cross’ arrival in the resort, more than 150 people had been provided with support through in-kind vouchers for food and winter warmth items, along with payments for accommodation and utilities in the Queenstown area.
The programme provided support from 10 locations nationally.
"As in every emergency response and our daily work, we work closely with community groups and local agencies wherever we are.
"We acknowledge that there has been a huge amount of diligent work done by local actors in Queenstown, and other towns and cities in New Zealand, and hope to complement this support."
So far, $98,500 worth of vouchers had been distributed.
Red Cross disaster welfare and support team members in Queenstown were permanent representatives of the organisation in the community, and were well connected to the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the local Civil Defence group, she said.
There were an additional five New Zealand Red Cross staff at present based in Queenstown.
During the lockdown, the council, in conjunction with Civil Defence and central Government, ran an emergency operations centre, offering food vouchers to those in need.
By the end of April, requests had exceeded 10,000, and more than $500,000 worth of food vouchers had been distributed to people in need.
