GUNNEDAH residents can ease the burden of financial stress with a visit to The Salvation Army’s Moneycare financial counsellors.
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Moneycare provides free, confidential financial counselling to people experiencing monetary hardships or for those wanting to avoid a potential financial crisis.
Financial counsellors Marika Goddard and Sandy Avis said their clients are from a variety of backgrounds with a common goal of bringing their finances under control.
“We see everyone from small business owners, to people on benefits, who sometimes, through no fault of their own end up in these circumstances,” Ms Avis said.
“Depending on their situation we can either provide information on preventative strategies or go through options of negotiating debt.”
The financial counsellors also act as advocates on behalf of clients, liasing with creditors, debt collectors and other agencies, including Centrelink.
“Whether it’s $1000 or $60,000 we are here to help ease the financial stress of money troubles,” Ms Goddard said.
“One of the biggest things we deal with is helping clients to set up payment plans for electricity and phone bills to stop them from receiving a bad credit rating.
“A lot of people don’t realise that this is an option when those bills keep piling up.”
Both women have backgrounds in crisis counselling and regularly use those skills as finances can often be part of a bigger picture.
“Often we are seeing people at their worst, financial troubles can lead to enormous amounts of stress and it can be quite overwhelming for them when creditors or debt collectors are knocking at their door,” Ms Avis said.
“We are urging people to seek assistance as soon as possible so we can provide them with the skills to manage their money.”
The women are seeing great results with their work, although challenging at times.
“We work with people throughout the duration of their financial hardships and for some people that might be one appointment and others it could be 12-months of sessions,” Ms Goddard said.
“It is a win for us and very rewarding when our clients are in better financial situations, the relief for them is huge.”
A financial counsellor is available at The Salvation Army building (Chandos Street) every Monday and every second Tuesday.
For privacy reasons, appointments are required with access to the offices from the back entrance (Little Barber Street).
To make an appointment phone Sandy Avis on 0456 629 531 or Marika Goddard on 0466 772 013.