When help arrives: How Can Assist supports locals

If you've been involved with Peak Hill Can Assist, chances are you've met Maria Harrison. Maria once turned to Can Assist for support while she cared for her husband and mother during their cancer journeys. Today she's been giving back as a volunteer for more than 10 years. Whether she's organising fuel vouchers, delivering one of Can Assist's care bags or simply checking in with a phone call, she's there to remind people they don't have to face cancer alone. When someone in Peak Hill receives a cancer diagnosis, the journey ahead can feel frightening, expensive, and overwhelmingly lonely. Treatment means travelling to Dubbo, Parkes, Orange, Canberra or Sydney - often hundreds of kilometres every week. READ MORE: Do the Distance for our shire's cancer patients Beyond the diagnosis itself, the financial pressure quickly adds up: fuel, accommodation, medication, groceries, utility bills, parking, meals away from home and time away from work. As the Can Assist welfare officer in Peak Hill, Maria is usually the first person families meet. She calls or visits as soon as she hears about a diagnosis, introduces herself and explains the ways Can Assist can help. “I give them our form, my number and I just say ‘If you need anything, call me. If I can’t answer your question, I’ll find someone who can'," she said. For many local families, the single biggest barrier to treatment is fuel. Fuel vouchers are the support families most often accept. Every week Maria checks in with each person – not just to organise vouchers but to ask how they’re coping. “Sometimes people just need to talk,” she said. Can Assist also covers pharmacy costs for cancer related medications and supplements, provides food vouchers when needed, and helps people navigate IPTAAS reimbursement – often the difference between whether someone feels they can afford ongoing treatment, or not. For local cancer families, Can Assist is not just financial help – it is community, dignity, and hope. And for Maria, she said being part of that journey is a privilege.