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LIFELINE will provide tailored face to face and digital psychological first aid for affected communities including counselling, information resources for individuals, crisis helplines and Lifeline text. These services are being specifically created for these communities and for this situation.
Lifeline CEO Colin Seery said that the organisation’s staff and volunteers have been working on the ground tirelessly to support local people.
“Lifeline is at the very heart of the communities that have been hardest hit so we have a clear picture of just how devastating these floods have been for individuals and families.”
“The funds raised from the Secret Sounds initiatives will enable us to continue to extend and tailor Lifeline services and to help communities reach a point where they regain sustainability and resilience.”
GIVIT is a national donation platform managing donations of items, services and funds for people impacted by floods across parts of Queensland and New South Wales. GIVIT works directly with councils, outreach teams, charities and community groups in impacted areas to identify exactly what’s needed to make sure people get what they need, when they need it.
The local newspaper of the Bundjalung region, KOORI MAIL is wholly owned by five Bundjalung Aboriginal community organisations. These regions have been severely flood impacted and fundraising will directly support these communities.
The well-established Byron Community Centre has partnered with regional philanthropic body, NORTHERN RIVERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, to support a community led flood recovery. Funds will be distributed to grass roots community organisations throughout the Northern Rivers Region, getting help to communities when and where they need it.
It is impossible to overstate the impact of the flooding that hit Northern NSW and Southeast QLD a fortnight ago. All previous records were smashed by metres. Roads and bridges were washed away. Schools were destroyed. Thousands of homes were inundated, with water levels in Lismore exceeding a previously unfathomable 14 metres. Residents climbed into ceiling cavities to escape the floodwaters or onto rooftops in hope of being rescued by civilians in tinnies.
Huge landslides moved houses down mountains in the hills behind Mullumbimby, and now scar the Northern NSW hinterland. Heroic community members trekked through the bush, across raging torrents and waist high mud to rescue the isolated and injured. They carried in generators, fuel, supplies, even a satellite dish and radios and they encountered scenes that no civilian volunteer should ever have to witness.
Further south in Woodburn and Coraki the floodwater has only just subsided and a massive clean-up effort is underway in that devastated region.
Thousands of homes are now uninhabitable. The families who lived in them are facing an uncertain future. Northern NSW was already facing a housing crisis and the situation is now critical. Many have also lost their businesses or income for the foreseeable future.
Whether directly affected by flooding or volunteering for rescue and clean up, this disaster has been traumatic for the entire community and has taken a huge emotional toll on everyone in its path.
You support, to help raise as much money as possible for devastated communities, is much appreciated!
