The demand for Community Link’s services has been on the rise for a while, families and those with disabilities being some of the main clients.
The food bank doubling its clients in two years is an indicator of growing financial stress in Wānaka.
Mr Wanihi (59) is only one example of how important these services can be, after a disability meant he was unable to continue with his job.
He moved to Wānaka in 2007 and had been shearing sheep with the help of his cousin for most of the time since then, until January last year when he got arthritis in both his legs, which eventually meant he needed to be on crutches.
"After I’ve been working with sheep and all that, wet sheep as well, that’s how I started getting symptoms of arthritis," he said.
This led Mr Wanihi to go on the Work and Income disability benefit, but he still needed the support of Community Link and Uruuruwhenua Health to be able to fully sustain himself.
Having also struggled with learning difficulties for most of his life, the support that those services gave him was not just financial.
"Knowing that I’m over 50 years old and struggling with reading and writing, they were the ones that helped me to get a community card as well as disability cards," he said.
He was also able to receive food parcels and firewood, and occasionally had access to drivers when he had to go to Dunedin for medical appointments.
This was all part of Community Link’s programmes, and he was assigned a case worker to ensure he got the help he needed.
"I reckon I would have been lost without them, especially with what they’ve been serving me as well as food parcels and voluntary drivers."
Being only on the benefit the previous year, he had been struggling to keep up with Wānaka’s high prices until that year, when he was able to get the supporting cost-of-living payments, he said.
Wānaka’s high cost of living meant that would not be able to afford accommodation in Wānaka, and he had been living in Luggate since he moved to town.
His current rent was $300 for the first floor of a two-story house in Luggate, the equivalent of which would have been over $400 in Wānaka, Mr Wanihi said.
"[Work and Income] wanted me to move into Wānaka last year ... but then I declined because it was just a cost-of-living for one bedroom."
Since being unable to work, he had sought to keep himself busy in the community to ensure his mental health did not suffer.
That had included going to the swimming pool on Fridays, going for walks in the park and helping his cousin with occasional jobs if he was physically able to.
Doing occasional jobs had not only helped him get active when he could, but it was also a good way for him to reconnect with a line of work he loved, Mr Wanihi said.
"It’s just that I go to work with my cousin just to get out of the house, so that mental health and all that doesn’t kind of sink into your head, or just go walking."
