Welcome to 'Storm Survivors and friends'
This is a DIY approach to supporting ourselves here in the Hills as we emerge from such a difficult time.
The fear of Covid and those endless lockdowns have challenged many of us, and changed us, and we are also 2 years older than when it all started!
Now we need to take easy steps to get out and about, to find out about what's going on now, share our stories and find out what the wonderful folks who have been supporting us after the storm of June 2021 and its aftermath, have been doing.
A small group of Hills locals have come together to set up 'Storm Survivors and friends' to enable the folks who help and support those of us fortunate to have homes in the Hills.
However as we all know, unfortunately for many people the aftermath of the June storm and other tree falls, has meant that we face rebuilding challenges and many families are living in rented accomodation, many away from the Hills.
So, with a weekly in person 'get togethers' with local speakers, we can find our what's been going on and we can create opportunities for folks to tell their stories. We may even start a weekly drop in IT workshop at St Michaels in Kalorama, but with more cafes than you can count to catch up over coffee, we can look forward to opportunites to catch up, share our stories, and also meet new friends.
The purpose of 'Storm Survivors and friends' is to empower local people to help other local storm survivors, their families, their friends, neighbours and other local people, to provide a focus for people to link to tell our stories over again and again, and to help other people who feel they need help to get through this 6 months on phase.
Those involved want to establish an organisation where people can be directed with confidence, where they can meet others and chat: to share the traumas experienced in the storms and through the Covid lockdowns and house moves, as we work together to rebuild our homes, restore our gardens and generally move on.
We also want to provide a focus where those who helped us can share their stories and a place where they can tell us about their plans.
We are proud that we have thoroughly explored options and found a way that empowers people in the community to support one another, while recognising that we still need support from the Services to take the steps forward to reduce dependency on Recovery Relief and move towards normalising our lives, with more confidence in supporting our families, neighbours and friends.
