2023/24 Recovery and Resilience Grant Recipients
Recovery and Resilience funding stream $112,584
The Recovery and Resilience Grants support flood impacted communities with disaster recovery initiatives, resilience and disaster mitigation projects, with grants of up to $25,000.
This stream focuses on funding solution-based responses to our communities' current challenges, such as floods and fires, ensuring that we become more resilient in the years to come and recover in the best way possible as a community.
This program is supported by the generosity of our of NRCF funding partners: Paul Ramsay Foundation and James Frizelle Charitable Foundation.
LOCAL CONNECTS TO GLOBAL
The United Nations has adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030. Each project in our 2022/23 Community Grants round is relevant to the goals as outlined below.
ReForest Now
SHADE AND SLOW - REFORESTING THE WILSON'S RIVER FOR RESILIENCE AGAINST EXTREME WEATHER
Continuing important reforestation work along the Wilsons River to slow evaporation from the sun as well as mitigate the erosion impacts of flood water is a key focus on this project - aiming to reduce the burden of both floods and droughts. This project will build on the successful Banyula Many Trees project that aims to plant 260,000 rainforest trees as part of a 900 acre regenerative farming project to expand the Big Scrub Rainforest remnants. The Banyula project did not include reforestation of the creek lines of the property because it was feared another flood season could occur in February/March 2023. Therefore, there are seven kilometres of the Wilsons River to reforest, about 30 metres wide at any one point. The riparian planting will be flanked entirely by planted rainforest so will be protected by water on one side for moisture and rainforest shade, structure and ecological function on the other side.
Resilient Lismore Incorporated
RESILIENT LISMORE TOOL LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY
This important project aims to restore normality and comfort for residents affected by flooding in Lismore and the surrounding areas. Many individuals in the region have seen their livelihoods and homes devastated, facing financial constraints that hinder the replacement of tools and household items. To address this, an experienced Australian Library of Things (ALoT) consultant will be engaged, specialising in community tool library management. This will transition the Resilient Lismore Tool Library from a paper-based system to an online catalogue using the 'MyTurn' software, designed for community tool libraries. The consultant will oversee volunteers in item photography, cataloguing, online system training, and the implementation of a new labelling system to enhance safety and service history accessibility. The new system will also send service and loan reminders to borrowers, reducing damage, theft and losses, making our library more sustainable.
Consortium Of Neighbourhood Centres (CONC)
NORTH COAST FOOD RECOVERY
This innovative project addresses food insecurity and social isolation by implementing a food sustainability model. Food donations will be collected from local businesses and delivered to volunteer-run kitchens in local neighbourhood centres, which serve as the heart of outreach programs supporting vulnerable and socially isolated communities. Community members who access these group meals are reliant on both the sustenance and the security of the meals as well as the social interaction.
This program goes a step further by ensuring delivery to remote locations using refrigerated vans and dedicated volunteer drivers. In doing so, it provides crucial support to low-income families across the region. Additionally, the program allows volunteers to experience the dignity of work and take pride in being part of a creatively designed initiative that reduces waste and addresses food insecurity.
New School of Arts Neighbourhood House Inc
VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY UHF RADIO NETWORK PILOT PROGRAM
Tackling one of the most important aspects of safety in a crisis in regional areas - communication - this project will deliver a Community Volunteer UHF radio network. Focused on Kangaroo Creek in the Clarence Valley, the network will be a dependable form of communication to collect and relay crucial rain and river data to residents downstream. This is especially important in the case of automated gauges upstream failing, as they did in the February 2022 floods. This project will complement the New School of Arts 'Community Pantry Project' which is aimed at increasing community resilience to natural disasters by providing food security for residents living in these vulnerable areas.
Baby Give Back
THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IN NORTHERN RIVERS PROJECT
With a commitment to providing clean, safe baby essentials for children that vulnerable families and families living in poverty cannot access, this project is dedicated to interrupting the cycle of disadvantage and its impact on the next generation. This supports parents and caregivers to meet their child's needs, improving their wellbeing. The project assists with critical items in a crisis such as nappies, wipes, formula and bottles, which were in short supply during the flooding events of 2022.
Friends of the Koala
FLOOD RECOVERY NURSERY PROJECT
In response to recent flood events that have left landholders grappling with financial losses and emotional distress, our initiative offers a lifeline. By providing a cost-free solution to enhance and rehabilitate their properties, we aim to uplift both landowners and the ecosystems dependent on vegetation for survival. The distribution of 10,000 complimentary plants will significantly expedite the recovery process in the aftermath of floods. This will ultimately provide much needed habitat to our native wildlife such as koalas, whose habitat’s have been severely impacted by successive fires and floods.