Faith and favour
Moneycare counsellors, Marika Goddard (left) and Kim Abel (right). (Photo by Major Cathy Rogerson)
“I couldn’t speak for a little while – like words couldn’t come to me, taking in what (Kim) was telling me. I was stunned. It was like a weight had literally come off me, it restored my faith in people. What Kim achieved for me was life changing. I can’t say 'thank you' enough.”
– Allen
It was a Christmas present that 51-year-old shearer, wool-classer and 'roo shooter Allen really couldn’t have imagined – a telephone call on 22 December, from The Salvation Army Moneycare counsellor Kim Abel to tell him that half his bank debt of more than $40,000 had been forgiven (with the rest was waived just after Christmas). “It was a great Christmas present,” Allen says. “It was unbelievable”.
Like so many who present to The Salvation Army’s Moneycare free financial counselling service, Allen had never visited the Salvos for any type of help. “I always had at least two jobs going,” he says.
For much of his working life, Allen had managed a number of rural properties and worked in shearing sheds until a wool glut and recession in the 1990s. He says: “The bottom fell out of the market and people started shooting the sheep. I basically went from working nine months of the year to working three months of the year.”
At that stage Allen decided to take on a job as a cleaning supervisor in meat processing. Already responsible for regularly handling large volumes of industrial-strength cleaning products, one day a work accident left Allen covered in chemicals.
At first he didn’t notice anything, but he soon began to get recurrent dermatitis. “I kept working, but I always have dermatitis somewhere on my body and there hasn’t been one spot on my body I haven’t had it. My condition became that bad, that they (eventually) put me on a disability pension. At some stages my feet would swell up so much that the skin would actually split. I got blood poisoning at different times.”
After two years of inactivity, his health had somewhat improved, Allen started taking on some part-time work and all went well for a time. He says he takes responsibility for his debt, but that it was all too easy to slip into, explaining: “I had started working for myself and I got a loan for a vehicle. (Banks kept) offering me more money and before you realise it you have a really big debt.”
Enjoying working hard again, Allen knows he took on too much and all of a sudden his body let him know about it. At that stage Allen’s marriage also broke up. He says: “I was working less and less and my attitude to dealing with people got to the stage I couldn’t tolerate people. I was sick, angry, helpless, blaming myself. People were hassling me for money. I basically didn’t have the money to pay the debt I owed. I couldn’t sleep at night. The worry is never out of your mind.”
He says he finally contacted The Salvation Army Moneycare service. “I couldn’t believe it – when I walked out from seeing counsellor Kim the first time, I couldn’t believe how much things had turned around just in my own thoughts. When I went in I was expecting I would have to become bankrupt, and would lose everything.
Allen says: “Kim was so dedicated. The (Moneycare) service gives people back hope and belief and faith and also helps people know their rights.”
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