A support group for St Albans would help local residents coping with a second round of trauma and the feeling they have been forgotten by larger agencies, according to a City Mission outreach worker.
Social and Community Outreach Worker Mary Rose was talking at the AGM of the Edgeware Village Green last month when she made the suggestion that local support groups would help people facing a second round of trauma dealing with EQC and insurance companies and who feel “forgotten.”
The idea of these groups comes from Dr Rob Gordon, an Australian psychologist and disaster recovery specialist who has visited New Zealand through the auspices of the Red Cross and has spoken at number of well attended and positively received public talks on the various stages of recovery. Mary expressed an interest in collaborating with local community leaders to start a group locally. Regular local groups can provide mutual support and the opportunity to share solutions. Mary feels such a group could be useful in St Albans, noting that a recurrent theme of her contact with local residents is that they have been “forgotten” by the larger agencies.
Dealing with post-quake repairs and recovery is taking its toll on people’s well-being. She says the earthquakes and their consequences have put additional stresses on already vulnerable groups within the community. It is also seeing a
re-emergence of earlier life issues that people had thought they had dealt with.
A common refrain that Mary hears is that “other people are worse off than me” especially from the older age groups.
Mary Rose operates from a large camper van, often seen at local events and gatherings, which doubles as a mobile office. The City Mission wanted to be able to respond to people who were either unhappy, or unable, to come to the City Mission’s normal base in the Central City. The van was funded by the Lion Foundation and the Tindall Foundation.
Mary has been finding that her service has been attracting people who have previously not had contact with the social services, including some who have been City Mission volunteers. Services that Mary provides include general discussion, information on available support (including financial grants), referrals to other services, advocacy and individual /family social work input.
Please contact Helen Ross for further information:rossh1@paradise.net.nz or phone 3662426 or 0276347439
Source: based on notes taken by Helen Ross, EVG Secretary. Originally appeared in July edition of St Albans News.
