Real stories: Patrick and Maggie felt less alone when they got financial hardship assistance

Patrick and Maggie are raising four young children. Maggie is a stay-at-home mum and Patrick is the sole breadwinner for the family.

The family has always managed financially. But things changed 6 months ago when Patrick was diagnosed with a heart condition and needed to have surgery.

Patrick couldn’t work for 3 months, which put a strain on their finances. They started to have difficulty with weekly expenses and found themselves having to choose between essentials like groceries, fuel, or school supplies for their children.

The turning point came when they had less than $100 in their bank account. Although hesitant, they decided to seek help. They called the National Debt Helpline (NDH).

The NDH put Patrick and Maggie in touch with Claude, a financial counsellor. He helped them to apply for financial hardship with their lender.

'Claude helped to give us breathing room and the motivation to take back control. He provided us with the tools and information to speak to our lender directly. If we knew about this earlier, we would have spent less time worrying and got help sooner.'

Financial First Aid free financial counselling

Financial First Aid free financial counselling and mediation services are available to people who have money troubles and live in one of the many government funded areas across Victoria. First step is to enquire online or request an appointment.

For more real stories about people with financial troubles and how Financial First Aid financial counsellors mediated for them, go to the Financial First Aid website home page and scroll down to Real Stories.