What We Do | Flood Recovery in Northern NSW | Furnishing Temporary Housing & Restocking Lismore Library

It’s been six months since the east coast of Australia was battered by torrential rain, with Lismore one of the worst affected by the extreme flood event.

We're working with the New South Wales Government to assist flood-impacted communities in Northern New South Wales. GIVIT's recovery work is being delivered via 139 support organisations throughout the state.

As is always the case in natural disasters, Australians have shown incredible generosity. It's this generosity that enables GIVIT to provide short, medium and long-term support to people who've lost everything. Below are two examples of how we're helping.

Essential items for temporary housing villages

Many people are still in emergency shelters, living in cars, couch surfing or camping following the floods in Lismore over six months ago.

GIVIT is working with North Coast Community Housing to provide essential items for temporary housing. GIVIT has provided kitchen utensils and crockery, bedding, towels, bins, brooms, mops, storage tubs and clothes.

The first temporary housing village has opened in Wollongbar. Over the coming months, more sites will open in Pottsville, Wardell, Coraki, Kingscliff, East Lismore, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads.

GIVIT Engagement Officer Breanna standing with Issy from North Coast Community Housing in front of a temporary housing pod Temporary homes will be rent-free for two years available to flood-affected locals for up to three years. This gives people time to rebuild their homes, or to find alternative long-term housing. Emotional instability, stress reactions, anxiety and trauma are commonly seen after disasters. Stable living arrangements are important for the mental wellbeing and recovery of people impacted.

GIVIT will continue to support this project for as long as is needed. Previously, GIVIT has played a similar role, providing essential items to help people devastated by bushfires settle into temporary accommodation in Victoria.

Restocking Lismore library

Lismore Library, inundated during the floods, reached out to GIVIT to help replace over 30,000 children's books, toys, and multicultural resources that were destroyed.

The big-hearted GIVIT community donated over $12,000 directly towards the library's request. Officeworks also donated $10,000 worth of books, to be purchased locally from Book Warehouse Lismore.

While Lismore Library is still yet to be repaired, GIVIT has helped donate these funds to adequately stock the mobile library, and purchase books and items to get the babies and children’s activities back up and running at the Lismore Libraries other locations.

486,625 Items & services provided to flood-impacted communities (as at 28 August 2022)

300 Organisations have received donated items, services or vouchers (as at 28 August 2022)

62 Local Government Areas have charities that have placed requests (as at 28 August 2022)

With years of experience in donation management, GIVIT understands the problems and drain on government and community resources that comes with trying to sort, store and distribute donations during an already stressful time.

GIVIT is a home-grown, proven and smart solution to donation management. GIVIT manages the influx of donations during a disaster and the recovery, enabling organisations to focus on delivering their core community service. GIVIT is the smart way to direct public generosity to ensure vulnerable people get what they need, when they need it.

We aim to ensure people devastated by disaster get exactly what they need to recover, where and when they need it. We aim to make it easy for big-hearted Australians to have the greatest possible impact.

The healing from these floods will take time. The scale of the impact is huge, and GIVIT will be here for the several years it will take to support these communities in their recovery. You can see below the essential items and services that are still needed by people affected by these floods.

You can donate money by clicking on the FUND button next to the request. You can also donate funds here. 100% of publicly donated money received by GIVIT will be used to buy exactly what's needed by people impacted by these floods. Wherever possible, we'll purchase items and services locally to stimulate the economic recovery of local communities.

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Big W voucher - $100

Young family with five children recovering from the flood seeking assistance for Christmas