Our Emergency Relief service offers free and confidential support for people in Western Adelaide experiencing financial distress or hardship.
Subject to availability and completing an assessment with one of our team, we can provide essential items like food, personal care products, pet food, FoodBank referrals, chemist referrals with prescriptions, and other forms of assistance when avaliable.
Funded by the Department of Human Services, the Department of Social Services, and generous community donations, we’re here to help when you are most in need.
Check whether you are eligible for this service by answering the questions below.
Call us on: 08 8245 7139 on Monday to Thursday, between 10am to 2pm, and leave the following information: name, phone number, suburb, and the type of assistance required. Alternatively, you can submit your details via the registration button below.
Call backs are made on Monday to Thursday, between 10am and 2pm. Please leave your contact details and information about the assistance you need so we can best support you. Note: calls may come from a private or unknown number.
A volunteer will call to assess your situation and determine eligibility for assistance. If eligible, we will provide information on how to access or collect support. If you do not hear back, please contact us again the next working day.
Anyone who is in financial hardship struggling to access food and essentials and living in the Western suburbs of Adelaide, you request a call to be assessed for service.
You can walk-in at 77 Gibson Street, Bowden, however, please note this does not guarantee a full assessment and service is available with our volunteers as we are limited to how many walk ins we can process in a day.
We unfortunately cannot book appointments as our capacity for assisting clients is dependable on volunteers available that day.
In order to promote equal access to basic needs, our eligibility criteria is based on clients’ unique needs and resources available.
You can always contact us to check your eligibility if you have recently accessed this service. Generally, 4 weeks between services is preferred.
You can call on behalf of your client and inform all details required for our triage, including your client’s name, suburb, phone number and type of assistance required.
Although you can request assistance on your client’s behalf, we still need to speak to your client to understand your client’s situation, unique needs and eligibility for our service.
If your client requires that you speak on his/her behalf, we need to get his/her consent before performing our assessment.
No, unfortunately our volunteers cannot contact clients who call us outside of working hours and/or days.
If you contact us outside of working hours and/or days, you are likely to receive a sms from us informing that you might need to contact us again.
Foodbank is a low-cost food hub that promotes equality among individuals and enables fair access to food.
Foodbank is located on Port Road, Woodville, however, we can support individuals by providing ‘customer pays card’ for any Foodbank hub around Adelaide metro.
A ‘Customer Pays Card’ gives clients access to Foodbank to shop using their own money and gives access to their low cost and/or free products.
This card allows clients to visit Foodbank once a week. It is valid for 10 visits or for 6 months. For example, if you visit foodbank once a week in the next following months, your card is likely to expiry in less than 3 months. However, if you don’t visit foodbank regularly, then it will last for 6 months from the date of issue. You can renew your card at any time, as there are no renewal limitations.
Complete a form and your CPC will be processed by one of our volunteers. Expect a sms from Foodbank when your CPC is ready.
In order to request this online you will need a valid mobile number or email address to receive your voucher details. If you don’t have a phone number or email address, then you will need to visit UCWB in-person during Emergency Relief operating hours: Monday – Thursday, 10am-2pm.
Foodbank will also receive your voucher details, and you can show your ID at Foodbank reception.
No, UCWB cannot pay bills, debts, and/or lend money to clients. The only form of financial assistance we are able to provide is through our Financial Counselling service. If you require support with your finances, you can fill a self-referral form to be added into our Financial Counselling intake waitlist – learn more about this service here.
No, unfortunately we do not provide Metrocard or pay for bus tickets.
Yes, we might be able to help you with your prescriptions. We have a partnership with Star Discount Pharmacy located at Ridleyton and we are able to support clients with their pbs prescriptions through referrals for chemist. However, referrals are dependable on presentation of prescriptions, medication and/or funding availability.
If you have a current prescription, our team must sight your prescription and contact chemist to verify medication availability and cost before providing a referral.
Be aware that we have limitations on numbers of referrals we can provide. If you are unsure about your eligibility, contact us.
No, we are unable to provide supporting letters for housing matters. However, you can find more information about it and who can support you with it here.
No, we do not pay for vet bills. If you have any current vet bills, you can contact our NILs team to verify if you’re eligible for a ‘No Interest Loan’ to pay for vet bills – visit this page.
Alternatively, you can contact ‘Safe Pets, Safe Families’ to discuss your eligibility for their vet crisis fund.
No, we do not provide vouchers for large household items. If you need to purchase large household items, you can contact our NIL’s team to verify your eligibility to apply for a No Interest Loan to purchase essential household items – visit this page.
Yes, there are other support options where you don’t have to provide your personal details, these include: Puddle Jumpers, Heart & Soul, Uniting Church food hubs.
We can only provide the supports listed above within operating hours. For urgent crisis support see our Helpful Links page for assistance.
If you or someone is in a life threatening situation call triple zero (000.
If you would like to donate to our community pantry, please see list of acceptable donations here.
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