HealthWay Healthy Community Criteria #1: The basic needs - food, shelter, water, safety need to be met July 8, 2006
Posted by gill in : Uncategorized , add a comment
“Now here’s a newsflash. Recent studies show feelings of well-being rise with income”*******
Since starting the job as Denmark’s Healthy and Safe Community Officer a number of emergency relief situations have presented themselves, prompting me to organise a meeting of those already involved in this area, but who up until now have predominantly worked independently of one another. There are limited resources for this type of assistance work in Denmark and it seems appropriate we all try and pull together to ensure the service becomes more effective and streamlined.
An inaugural meeting of folks already involved in emergency care relief was held on Friday 26 May 2006 at the Anglican Hall. Attendees included representatives from most of Denmark’s church groups, the Community Collective (Soup Kitchen volunteers) and some concerned individuals. A new Network was created at this meeting and a second meeting, held on Tuesday 6 June at the Anglican Hall led to the group deciding to prioritise a list of immediate needs.
Often, times get tough for some folks, particularly when winter sets in and something like a simple food parcel, extra blankets or firewood can make the difference to getting by or not. Sometimes newcomers, forced to leave difficult situations elsewhere, run out of resources and without a Department for Community Development (DCD) or Family and Children’s Services office or representatives in town, quite a few ‘fall between the gaps’. So the Network is setting in motion the accessing of a centrally located lockable shed in which second hand furniture, useable cooking utensils and functional white goods are to be stored. Liaison with the Tip Shop will be organised and donations of useable items, food (fresh fruit and vegetables) clothing, bedding and toys are welcome. If you have a trailer, a chainsaw and would like to spend a couple of hours helping the Network members collect firewood offered by private property owners for collection, then please give them a call.
The main contact will be volunteer ‘liaison officer’, Enid Simpson, contactable on 98482531, St Vincent de Paul volunteers are still contactable on 9842746 and will continue to render assistance, whilst working in with the new group, so emergency demands will be more evenly and cooperatively shared. The Red Cross volunteers will continue to assist with clothing, linen and other ‘soft goods’, with the Anglican, Uniting and Baptist Church representatives already assisting in wonderful ways! The Community Collective continues its legendary Wednesday Soup Kitchen and other crisis assistance during the week and DRAN welcomes anyone wanting to give time, energy or contributions to this inclusive and open community building process.
Dr Gillian Sellar – Denmark Healthy Community Project – 08 98483514 http://healthycommunity.dwalc.org.au