The Development of the Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre From Seed to Sapling. Presented by Julia McKenzie Palmer Brisbane Psychologist

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Development of the Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre From Seed to Sapling. Presented by Julia McKenzie Palmer Brisbane Psychologist"

Jean Porter
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Development of the Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre From Seed to Sapling Presented by Julia McKenzie Palmer Brisbane Psychologist

2 PURPOSE 1. Honour those that used their initiative and gave their time and money freely to help those in need. In particular Melinda McInturff (right) Fiona McLeod (left) and the many volunteers who joined up and followed their lead.

3 PURPOSE 2. Draw out the learnings from establishing an evacuation centre in the midst of disaster. 3. Reinforce the need for disaster management planning at a local community level.

4 WARNING Some of the learnings may be idealistic and therefore challenging to implement. I was one of the many floodies who lost every thing please understand if I speak with passion or emotion. Like many floodies I am in still recovery. There are no devastating flood scenes you can google these.

5 BACKGROUND Prior major devastating Brisbane flood in flooding occurred a day earlier than advised by the government on Tuesday 11 January The closest evacuation centre which was being set up was on the other side of the river.

6 THE SEED IS PLANTED I saw a woman on television carrying bags, holding a child s hand and trying to pick up another child. I thought people shouldn t have to worry about their kids as they re trying to evacuate their homes. I realised (as P&C Manager at Yeronga State School) we had the facility to look after children, get them out of the mud so that their parents could concentrate of evacuating their homes. Melinda McInturff Coordinator, Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre Walking the Path to Recovery,2012

7 The Next Steps Melinda rings the Oxley Police station offering childcare. 30 minutes later Police ring back Would Melinda set up an Evacuation Centre?

8 The Next Steps Active community member with access to facilities + Police power = Evacuation Centre

9 THE SEED SPROUTS AND GROWS The evacuation centre moved into the recovery centre role as the flood waters receded. It operated in this capacity for 14 months and closed its doors on 17 February

10 THE MOTHER OF ALL LEARNINGS Disaster management planning needs to occur at a local, community level.

11 OTHER LEARNINGS 1. Communities need to identify accessible known venues which can serve as evacuation centres.

12 OTHER LEARNINGS 2. Prepare a supply and grocery list. 3. Access to a group of volunteers you can t do it alone.

13 OTHER LEARNINGS 4. Early notification of the existence of the centre use media and signs. 5. A disaster fund. 6. Willing neighbours can offer much needed facilities eg showers, accommodation.

14 OTHER LEARNINGS 7. Set up a grocery bank.

15 The Grocery Bank Grows

16 OTHER LEARNINGS 8. Utilise contacts eg community groups, State Local and Federal government members, businesses. 9. Become a hub for information and referrals. The Government disaster recovery centre operated from the school hall from 15 January.

17 OTHER LEARNINGS 10. A community takes time to recover there is no set time. Crisis care is needed long after the government departments have left the disaster area Melinda McInturff Coordinator, Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre Walking the Path to Recovery,2012

18 YFRC ACHIEVEMENTS YFRC improved the lives of 5000 people directly affected by the flood. YFRC provided over 20,000 meals in house, 8000 take away meals and 4000 home delivered meals. YFRC had over 2000 volunteers involved from Day 1 of the flood until its closure in February 2012.

19 FROM SPROUT TO SAPLING YFRC became the Yeronga Community Centre on 20 February 2012 and moved to a new premises. The Honourable Simon Finn, State government member for the electorate at the time was instrumental in obtaining funding for staffing the continuation of both the recovery centre and the Yeronga Community Centre.

20 YCC PROJECTS & PROGRAMS Garden Recovery program Briks program Building Resilience in Kids Seniors Lunch meets Ongoing support for floodies Community Mapping Project on Flood Recovery Communication Skills training for women Playgroup

21 The Yeronga Community Centre

22 The Yeronga Flood Recovery Centre

23 A seed planted in devastation has grown into a strong sapling

YERONGA COMMUNITY PROFILE AND PLAN

YERONGA COMMUNITY PROFILE AND PLAN Introduction 1.0 Background 2.0 Yeronga: A Snapshot 2.1 Beginnings 2.2 Yeronga today 2.3 The locals 2.4 Key assets 3.0 Emerging Themes 3.1 Data of participants at Yeronga