Addicts in need of help from the Salvation Army in Dubbo have been told to use other services because funding for the organisation's drug and alcohol support service ran out.
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At the end of June the Salvos were left with no choice but to part ways with a staff member they employed to help addicts in Dubbo and Western NSW get their lives back on track.
Captain David Sutcliffe said the worker's position was made possible thanks to a one-off grant from another not-for-profit organisation.
"We tried to source some further funding but we've been unable to," he said.
"There's a huge need here [for drug and alcohol addiction services] in Dubbo at the moment.
"Unfortunately we don't have any specialist services in that area anymore.
"We would love to be able to continue to do something like that."
Captain Sutcliffe said the Salvos were able to ensure most addicts who used the service would not go without, because health organisations like the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Lives Lived Well were able to take on new clients.
"Us losing our service - we're not alone," he warned.
"There's lot of services providing different supports lately that have seen reduced funding or lost funding and we're noticing it.
"We've got another support service and we've seen a huge increase in the number of people accessing that service with mental health needs because a lot of those services have lost funding as well.
"Fortunately people are still trying to access services but its getting harder and harder for them."
Captain Sutcliffe said it's getting "a lot more difficult" for the Salvos to help people with complex needs.
"Most of our staff are working on full case loads... which makes it very difficult when people are coming to us daily asking for help and we're getting to the point where we're unable to help some people," he said.
The Salvos support calls for a detox and rehab facility to be urgently built in Dubbo, Captain Sutcliffe confirmed.
