Covid-19: $10m to help Aucklanders access food and essential items during lockdown
Sunday, 12 September 2021
The Government will commit a further $10 million to help people access food and essential items in response to the continued need in Auckland.
The funding comes on top of the $69.31m provided by government agencies to support providers and organisations serving their communities since August 17 – when the country entered alert level 4 lockdown, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced in a statement.
Sepuloni said the rapid public health response required to contain the spread of the Delta outbreak has highlighted the need to ensure an equally rapid welfare response.
Auckland is almost crossing the one-month mark in alert level four lockdown following the beginning of the delta outbreak, while the rest of the country had dropped to alert level two about a week ago.
The move is targeted at the Auckland region, helping providers and organisations to distribute over 50,000 more food parcels, and 20,000 essential wellbeing packs, the statement said.
Sepuloni said the additional funding will ensure whānau and communities are able to continue accessing the support they need, especially households who are self-isolating.
“Our Government’s response so far has recognised the need for whānau-centred support, iwi-led responses for their local community, as well as support for Māori, Pacific and disabled communities.
“In particular, the Pacific community in Auckland has been impacted by the current outbreak. They’ve made up over half of those having to self-isolate, resulting in entire support networks not being able to activate and mobilise,” she said.
Sepuloni said the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) will be supporting Pacific social service providers across Auckland, which includes working with MSD-funded Community Connectors who are embedded with Pacific providers.
“This funding aims to support them and provide continuity through what is a challenging time, and as we stamp out Covid-19 from the community,” she said.
Sepuloni said MSD will work with key agencies across the system to ensure that support is targeted to areas and populations with the greatest need.
“We’re committed to making sure our response to Covid-19 is rapid, coordinated and efficient, and ensuring people and our communities aren’t carrying the burden of lockdown alone,” she said.