MITCHELL COMMUNITY GROUPS NEED TO GET TOGETHER

Below is a copy of a letter we are sending to all community groups that have been involved in the Mitchell recovery. This is not a whole community event, we are asking that a representative of each organisation attends so that they can share information and continue to work together towards a positive future for Mitchell and the surrounding towns.  If you have any concerns, or an interest in any of the groups listed and would like those representatives attending to raise an issue on your behalf, please contact the relevant organisation you belong to and they can bring your concerns to the meeting. 
We believe Council has advised that it will have a whole community meeting some time in the future.

47 Cambridge St, Mitchell 4465 Phone: 0427786851 Fax: 46237572 ABN:39134992613 IA No: 36392 Email: marss.ceo@bigpond.com 2/03/2012

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to invite a delegate from your organisation to attend a Flood Recovery and Community Rebuilding Meeting.  As a key organisation within the Mitchell community that has been involved in the recovery after the floods, your attendance would be greatly appreciated. This meeting is to discuss the future direction of your organisation to ensure that all organisations are working together for the benefit of the community.

DATE: Thursday 8^th March

TIME: 6:30 pm

WHERE: Hotel Richards

Key points to be address will include:

What is your organisation currently doing in regard to the Mitchell community?

What plans do you have in place for the future recovery of Mitchell?

What are is on your “wish list” for the recovery of Mitchell?

Followed by questions and answers.

The following organisations in the community have been invited;

Booringa Action Group	Landcare
Nalingu	Rotary
CWAATSICH	Community Recovery team member
Lifeline	Red Cross
Hospital DON	Country Women’s Association
Alcoholics Anonymous	Meals on Wheels
Council Representative	Blue Care
QMDC	Catholic School
Catholic Church	State School
Church of England Church	MHEP
Community Nurse	Maranoa Combined Churches
SES	Kindergarten Rep.
Sunwater	Agforce

This community disaster requires a whole of community approach.

Please RSVP by Wednesday 7^th March 2012 for catering purposes.

Regards,

Kent Morris

After the flood… Some important information you should know.

It’s been a few weeks since the devastating floods swamped our homes, schools and workplaces, and everyone has dealt with it in their own way. Now we move on to the recovery and rebuild phase. We not only mop up the water and shovel out the mud, but also take time to recover from our intense emotional feelings and the distress of those around us. The following information provided by the  USQ Department of Psychology can be of some help in assisting the people in our communities affected by the recent floods.
 
Floods, such as the one we’ve just experienced, affect everyone in different ways:

• You may have been directly affected

• Your family, friends or neighbours may have suffered significant losses

• You may be disturbed by the media coverage of people’s stories

• You may be surprised by your own reactions to the flood experience and to the everyday stresses you experience

Good ideas…

 

• Take time to understand and accept what has happened.

• Acknowledge what is still stuck in your mind.

• Feeling worry, tears, anger and frustration is normal. Don’t avoid.

• Express your feelings as they arise with those you trust, even though you may feel that you should be “over it” by now. If no one is available try writing them down. Some find music or art helpful.

• Notice what you are thinking through the day. If you are dwelling on the past or fretting about the future, be gentle with yourself. Focus on TODAY where you can actually do something helpful for yourself or others. Remind yourself what you have lived through and that you are coping and getting through TODAY.

• Keep a normal routine and structure your day including regular meals and some exercise.

 

Set small tasks that you can accomplish, and break down the big things into little things.

 

• Be aware of your energy levels and rest if you are tired through the day.

• Be aware of what’s going on in your body. Use relaxation to physically release tension, slow your rhythm of breathing, tense and relax your hands and feel your feet on the ground, slow your voice and lower the volume.

 

• Let your family and friends know when you are “not yourself”, and ask for what you need.

 

• If you notice thoughts, feelings, and memories from previous traumatic experiences, reassure yourself that this is normal and that you are safe NOW. Seek help if the distress increases and is uncontrollable.

 

• Switch off at the end of the day and distract yourself with something calming and positive.

 

• Praise your family, friends, neighbours and community members for doing so much so well.

 

• Don’t forget to show gratitude for the little as well as the big things that people do to help.

 

• Use this experience to better prepare yourself and your household for the storm season.

 

• If the flood related distress (thoughts, feelings, images, avoidance behaviour) continues into months seek help from a professional.

 

Watch out for…

 

• Being too busy as a way of escaping your own distress or discomfort.

• Increasing your use of alcohol, drugs, caffeine and cigarettes to make you feel better.

• Getting snappy with others; stop for a rest.

• Others getting snappy with you; they also need your calm, patient understanding.

 

• Making major decisions or life changes too soon.

• Withdrawing from those close to you with no energy for the fun stuff – just do it!

 

• Things looking more negative or hopeless than they really are – check it out.

 

• Sitting and worrying for long periods of time – have a to-do list of small tasks.

• Trying to make other people feel better – Listen, Understand and Value them – people have their own journeys to recovery and need companions.

 

• Avoiding places and uncomfortable situations that remind you of the flood. Patiently allow yourself to experience it gradually, with a supportive friend if possible, until the unpleasant feelings lessen.

• Anxiety when you hear thunder and rain on the roof, or see water accumulating and flowing. This is a normal reaction for a while.

 

Remember to slow your breathing, remind yourself it is TODAY and that most storms are just storms. If storm conditions worsen get weather information and calmly follow your storm preparation plan.

 

For more assistance to support your coping strategies and recovery, some people who can help include:

 

• Your GP

• Local mental health services

• Counselling agencies

• Chaplains

• Psychologists

FLOODS ON MARSS

With the flood and so much happening prior to it, I have not had a chance to up date anything on Facebook for ages, however, we thought it time to start telling people  some of the things we are doing towards helping Mitchell recover from the floods.

The key to this recovery isn't really so much what we do, but what you the community want and need to be done and for the whole community to be aware of the communities needs.

We have listened to a number of groups in the community who are doing a marvellous job in the restoration of the moral of our local people and the community at large. Our involvement at this level is to lend our support by supplying our DGR (direct gift recipient) name behind the fundraising, and then stepping back and allow the organisations with the organisational skills and manpower to continue with the immediate recovery.

Fortunately all organisations in Mitchell come to the table with different agendas. MARSS is no different. We are a benevolent organisation with a focus totally on ensuring members of our community who are marginalised or disadvantaged are not forgotten. We are a charity nothing more and nothing less. We don’t care who gets what, as long as it is got! J

MARSS is on the street, as we always are. Though out the flood in Mitchell we got food to people who had chosen to stay in their homes or who were not able to leave their homes. We dropped off food to workers who couldn’t get into town and distributed other items as needed. We know we missed some people, and we apologise for this, but with only three team workers and no car, things were a bit tough!

Since the water went down, we have the majority of the baby to aged 5 clothing passed over from the recovery distribution centre in the Hunter’s Store and are distributing this to the community. The amount of clothing received would fit a small army of little people.

We continue to mow lawns and help with the clearing of gardens that are filled with rubbish. Though our key workers are getting tired as they are doing approximately 2-3 yards per day and we all know how big Mitchell back yards are! Add water, sand and mud and you end up with a miniature moonscape that has little alien plants sticking up all over the place. The guys are finding that mowing is more in the line of whipper snipping than actually having the leisure of a ride on mower just buzzing about. They seem to come back every afternoon whining, I don’t understand why!!!

Our next task is to door knock every house with a wish list from people in the community. One of our biggest gripes about this disaster is not knowing who are ALL the vulnerable people in the community. We are well aware that several services have some of this information, but the key organisations such as the SES were not informed. We are also well aware that the SES, Lifeline and the Red Cross have gone to houses previously when the community was in total disarray and they continue to undertake some of this outreach, but these people are not local and were not here and experiencing the flood as we were. Mitchell is our home, just as it is yours and we want all people in this community to be strengthened by this event, not left to struggle.

We need to stress, that everyone in this community was affected by this flood. It doesn’t matter if you had water in your yard or not, you experienced the emotions that your neighbour did, and in some cases more so as many feel the guilt of being ‘lucky’. It isn’t about who got more, or who got less, it is about making sure that rebuilding Mitchell is a team approach to make it better than it was before.

We can also think in some ways that this disaster is in fact a blessing. Turning a setback into a blessing is to have a paradigm shift when something “bad” happens. Instead of seeing it as devastating, begin to look at where it’s going to lead you. Though this we have all met new people, we are seeing people in a different light. We have experienced many good things from this flood, they way people have rallied round and helped one another, the way people we never even thought twice about from the other side of town have stepped forward and lent a hand. We all might have thought of Mitchell as a great little town, but working together shows us that we can make it an even better place to live.