Salvation Army staff are worried people are going hungry, unaware support services are operating in lockdown and concerned about breaching public health orders to access them.
Prior to the outbreak, about 70 Canberra residents routinely ate lunch at the Salvation Army's Braddon facility on their busiest weekday.
With group lunch cancelled, about 20 people from surrounding suburbs have routinely stopped in for a food hamper during lockdown.
Among the group, the Salvation Army staff report seeing more and more new faces over the past three weeks.
Officer Mitchell Stevens said many of the clients accessing food for the first time were university students seeking support due to loss of income.
Mr Stevens said their regular clients absence concerned staff people stuck at home may be more inclined to use alcohol or drugs.
"We actually have a drug and alcohol day program that is on our site but because of the lockdown they're all on Zoom, which is not ideal," he said.
Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT chief executive officer Devin Bowles said providers had tried to maintain critical face-to-face services for people where possible, but it was a challenge to do that and keep people safe during the outbreak.
"A friendly face over video link is dramatically better than nothing, but for many of us it still falls short of a person's physical presence," Mr Bowles said.
The Salvation Army day program opened just six weeks ago in an attempt to provide support to ACT residents on the six-month waitlist for a bed at the residential rehabilitation facility in Fyshwick.
Mr Stevens said prior to the lockdown about 60 people per day had been attending the day program to help treat drug and alcohol dependency.
"To say to them, 'unfortunately you're going to have to lockdown', it's pretty devastating for people," he said.
The Salvation Army motto is the opposite of addiction isn't sobriety, it's connection and community, Mr Stevens said.
"Isolation is the opposite of connection with people, it's being forced to do exactly what we tell them not to do," he said.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith reiterated on Wednesday the public health directions allow for people to leave their region to access social support services.
"We saw during the first wave of COVID-19 that some people were reluctant to access health services and this is always concerning," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
She said the ACT government had allocated an additional $260,000 to support access to community-based mental health services and an additional $200,000 for a range of crisis and emergency supports.
We will continue to work with the community sector to identify pressures and needs during the outbreak and beyond," Ms Stephen-Smith.
What are some of the support services available?
- The Salvation Army's Community Day is still operating Mondays and Fridays from 10am to 2pm. This is located at the corner of Fawkner and Elouera streets in Braddon.
- If you are struggling with debt because of COVID-19, please contact The Salvation Army's free Moneycare service on 1800 722 363.
- If you need immediate financial relief for food or other essential goods, please contact The Salvation Army Doorways service on 1300 371 288.
- If you are experiencing hardship and cannot afford to feed your family or yourself during the lockdown in the ACT, you can request a food and essential item delivery from the ACT government for free. To place an order and to find out which items are available, contact VolunteeringACT on 1800 43 11 33, Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
- A comprehensive list of ACT government support services is available here.
