Flood Recovery Information
Recovering from the impact of disasters can take time.
There are still a range of Recovery Services available to support you, detailed below.
WHERE TO GET FACE TO FACE HELP:
Hawkesbury Community Hubs
- Wednesdays @ Wilberforce School of Arts Hall - 531 Wilberforce Road
- Thursdays @ Colo Heights Hall - 2996 Putty Road Colo Heights
- Fridays @ St Albans School of Arts Hall - 7 Upper Macdonald Road
Hubs recommence Wednesday 14 February 2024
You may also be interested in attending Community Hubs which provide weekly face to face activities and support to the Community.
Please click here for all the HUBS INFORMATION
Mental Health supports are all here
Food Support and other Community Services are all here
Flood Recovery Related Information https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/67636/widgets/331304/documents/280556
Peppercorn Recovery Support Services and Person-Centered Emergency Planning for connection to services for immediate and longer-term needs; Links to counselling, mental health, and financial support; and preparedness planning. 02 4587 0225 or 02 4587 0222 or email rss@peppercorn.org.au
Care Finder – Hawkesbury
Wesley Care finder services supports older people who need intensive assistance, access to aged care services and who have no family or friends who can help them.
Care finder can help older people:
- Understand what aged care services are available to them.
- Conduct assessments and identify needs.
- Access appropriate services.
- The care finder program is fully funded through Primary Health Networks, Wesley Care finder services are provided free.
Wesley Mission’s Care finder intake number is 92635177 and email is carefinders@wesleymission.org.au
NSW Health:
Disaster Recovery Clinicians for support and referral with mental health needs.
Contact: Ian McLachlan ian.mclaughlin@health.nsw.gov.au 0428 481 412
Sally Weymouth sally.weymouth@health.nsw.gov.au 0429 011 134
Psychological support to people experiencing suicidal crisis or psychological distress in rural communities and community engagement
Contact: Monica Kaoutal Monica.Kaoutal@health.nsw.gov.au 0407 366 015
Help with IT and Technology – fortnightly at the HUBS.
The Digital Literacy Foundation offer FREE one on one digital mentoring at Hawkesbury Community Hubs in 2024
The digital mentors can assist you to become more confident in:
- using technology
- being more aware about scam awareness
- how to protect your digital information
BOOK a one-on-one appointment on (02) 9090 4141 OR drop-in to one of the Hubs to arrange a time.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING: For Mental Health Support 24hours/7 days a week call:
Crisis Support 131114
Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
Kids Help Line 1800 55 1800 - support for young people aged 5 to 25
The new permanent Hawkesbury Head to Health site has opened its doors in Richmond!
Located at 1-2 Musson Lane in Richmond, the service provides free mental health support in a safe and welcoming environment for people experiencing distress or crisis. It also supports those wanting to find other mental health support for themselves, or someone they care about.
Contact 1800 595 212
headspace Hawkesbury has also opened its doors to the community!
Headspace is a free service that provides early intervention support to young people aged 12-25 years and their family and friends. Support is delivered across mental health, physical health, work and study and alcohol and other drug needs.
120 Francis Street, Richmond is open 9:00am – 5:00pm weekdays. Contact 1800 517 171.
Find a full range of FREE local mental health supports here: https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/mentalhealth
NEED ASSISTANCE GETTING PREPARED?
PREPARED INFORMED AND READY
A new one stop preparedness resource is on the Hubs page on Your Hawkesbury Your Say. On this website, you will find resources, advice and information that will help you get prepared for natural disasters that may affect you such as floods, fires, heatwaves, and storms. This page also has Culturally and Linguistically Diverse resources.
Visit the Prepared, Informed and Ready page at https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/prepared.
GRAB & GO BAGS
You can pick up your free Grab and Go bag to help you prepare for emergencies at one of the following locations:
Community Hubs
Council Administration Building
Hawkesbury Central Library
Richmond Branch Library
Visitor Information Centre
Hawkesbury Regional Museum.
The backpack includes a Waterproof Document Wallet and Emergency Contact Sheet where you can note all your important contacts and phone numbers.
Emergency contact Sheet with emergency checklist is also available in
- Braille
- Simplified Chinese
- Traditional Chinese
- Communication Image Board
GET PREPARED HAWKESBURY VIDEO
Please watch this short video of some of our Council staff and local Emergency Services about how you can best prepare for potential emergency events.
If you, a family member, or a friend might need some support as we move into the bushfire season, please reach out for assistance, local support is available. https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/mentalhealth
Peppercorn Services Person Centered Emergency Preparedness (PCEP)
Person-Centered Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) guides the community and its people through conversation to prepare for emergencies. You are supported to self - assess risk, your preparedness for emergencies such as house fire, landslides, floods, power outages, bushfires, storms, pandemics, and heatwaves.
and support needs in emergency situations. Together the team will develop formal emergency preparedness plans tailored to individual capabilities and needs with the aim to optimise your self- reliance and forward plan your reliance on others.
For more information about PCEP or to book an appointment please
visit http://www.peppercorn.org.au/person-centred-emergency.../ call 4587 0222 or email pcep@peppercorn.org.au
Legal Aid
Get free legal advice and help with problems such as insurance claims and disputes, financial hardship, tenancy and residential parks, government grants eligibility, Centrelink, your rights at work and other everyday legal problems If you prefer to speak with a lawyer over the phone, you can call 1800 801 529 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
Western Sydney Legal
Get free legal advice and help with problems such as insurance claims and disputes, financial hardship, tenancy and residential parks, government grants eligibility, Centrelink, your rights at work and other everyday legal problems If you prefer to speak with a lawyer over the phone, you can call 1800 801 529 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
Western Sydney Community Legal Centre (WSCLC) provides FREE access, support, advocacy,
advice referrals and representation to people who live in Western Sydney facing hardship or
barriers in dealing with legal or other issues. For more information click here
For a full list of Food, Support and Community services click here: https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/info
LOCAL PRACTICAL HELP
Riverbank Rehabilitation Project: Streamlined approvals support
LLS is working directly with flood impacted rural landholders to support them through a streamlined waterway approval process.
If you are planning to self-fund and undertake instream or riverbank works following recent flood events and would like to talk to a Local Land Services technical experts about assistance available under the Riverbank Rehabilitation Project, please email the project team and include your contact details, river, and property details.
Project email: riverrehabproject@lls.nsw.gov.au or visit our website www.lls.nsw.gov.au/river-rehab
Or Call 1300 795 299 and request a call back.
UNDERTAKING WORKS ALONG RIVERBANKS OR CREEKS?
HCC want property owners to know we are seeking to work with them to ensure that any more time and money invested in river banks works are going to have the intended outcome.
We all want restoration works along the riverbanks to be long lasting to:
- Prevent further erosion.
- Provide resilience in future flood events.
- Contribute to a health riparian corridor and river system.
- Limit any negative impacts on the environment and adjoining properties.
- Be approved as per legislation.
- Consider a range of issues such as engineering design, safety, appropriate fill material choices and construction documentation
- Place owners in a position that they can sell their property in the future and not be hampered by lack of approvals.
We have been working with the relevant State agencies seeking advice to enable works to be undertaken within relevant legislative requirements and approval processes.
We want to help ensure that any works undertaken are sustained and regularized. Please contact us to discuss works that you would like to undertake. Please call us on 4560 4444 to book a meeting. Council is offering the service free of charge for flood impacted residents and businesses.