Annual Report 2010 - Berry Street

23
Supporting and rebuilding
communities
7 February 2010 was the first anniversary of Black Saturday, when
175 people perished, towns were destroyed and lives were turned
upside down.
As the main community service organisation in
Alexandra, we were in a position to help, through
being part of the case management service and
working with many others to start the rebuilding
of devastated communities.
Over the year, our 74 dedicated, skilled and
determined case workers helped 357 families
survive their first winter, decide whether they
would rebuild, settle into new places, prepare
for summer and find new work.
We commissioned an evaluation through
La Trobe University as we wanted to look at
lessons learned from how we established the
Bushfire Case Management Service and how
we supported our staff. Information from this
evaluation will be shared with other Community
Service Organisations, local government and
the Department of Human Services.
We were also acutely aware of the impact on the
children, who had lost friends and homes, and
who were coping with their parents’ shock and
grief. One of our initiatives was to join with the
Royal Children’s Hospital, local schools and the
Cathedral Ranges community to implement a
program in which performing and visual arts are
used to help students and their families build
resilience and renewed hope. We have received
funding from a range of philanthropic sources,
including Annamila, Foundation for Rural &
Regional Renewal and Helen Macpherson Smith
Trust, to implement the Festival for Healthy
Living program, and a team of artists are already
successfully working on projects in the primary
and secondary schools.
Berry Street has taken the lead in sourcing funds
to build a Men’s Shed in Marysville. As the case
management service reduces, it is vital that there
are places where men can gather and support
each other.
Connecting communities
The focus of our Connect for Kids program in
Alexandra, which is generously funded by a private
foundation, is to work with the community to
make it a great place in which to live and grow.
After the bushfires, a number of activities were
‘put on hold’ while everyone focussed on helping
people get through the crisis.
While we did continue with our Safe and Caring
Communities, ELF (Early Learning is Fun), Yea
Education Project, Youth Leadership, and Arts
programs, new needs emerged. In particular,
with the support of the Darley Group we were
able to play a more active role in seeking out and
engaging young people.