When single mum Ebony Russell's relationship ended 18 months ago, she had no savings to her name, ABC News reports.
"I kind of tried to tell myself it's not that bad, you know, we're fine — and it really wasn't," she said.
With the help of support services, the young Adelaide woman found housing, but paying for groceries and bills is still a weekly challenge.
"I do end up overdrawing my account if I need to because having those essential items for my toddler is, you know, it's non-negotiable," she said.
With the cost of vital goods having risen dramatically, Ms Russell has increasingly had to turn to charities for help.
She turned to not-for-profit organisation Treasure Boxes "for material support", and got it.
But it came after she was knocked back by other services who, Ms Russell said, have been inundated with calls for help.
"I've found that a lot of services I've reached out to in the last few months are so at-capacity with the amount of people that they're supporting that they have to say, 'I'm sorry, but we can't help you at this time'."
Treasure Boxes supports disadvantaged children and their families, and is experiencing unprecedented demand.
"We've always been quite a busy service anyway," chief executive officer and founder Rikki Cooke said.
"But in the last few weeks we've certainly seen a huge demand for our services, to the point where sometimes we're running out of things.
"We've never had that before."
FULL STORY
Charities alarmed at number of families struggling to afford necessities amid cost of living crisis (ABC News)
PHOTO
