Community spirit on show

Earlier this month our communities in south east Queensland and northern New South Wales experienced extreme weather as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred crossed the coast.

Teams across the region stepped up to lead an incredible response, supporting our 27 residential care homes, 20 retirement villages and 2,600+ clients in the affected areas.

With waves as high as four-storey buildings and wind speeds exceeding 100kph the damage to more than 500 kilometres of coastline, between Coffs Harbour and the Sunshine Coast, was staggering. In some cases, the beach erosion was so severe it left escarpments up to six metres high in some dunes.

Teamwork in action

Care staff stayed at homes through the weekend and maintenance and catering teams responded rapidly to changing needs at all hours. From sourcing generators and fixing leaking ceilings and roofs to adapting menus, cooking special meals, sharing supplies across homes and keeping deliveries coming.

Home and community support (HCS) teams ensured every client was contacted to confirm they had plans in place, including support from family members. The team conducted welfare checks throughout the weather event to remain connected with our most vulnerable clients and worked to restore essential visits in affected areas, once it was safe to do so.

In villages, our retirement living teams remained connected and kept residents informed through regular door knocks and assistance with essential supplies and charging devices where needed.

Central support teams worked closely with local managers to coordinate preparedness, communications and response. The National Service Centre team also fielded calls to ensure relatives and friends of residents remained informed and reassured.

Remarkable efforts

The true power of our integrated services was demonstrated with many examples of all our services working together to do whatever was needed. To name just a few: HCS teams offering to work in residential care homes, co-located residential care homes and retirement villages sharing resources, and central catering teams sourcing Wholesome Fare meals for HCS clients homebound on the Gold Coast.

Thank you to the many teams involved for your dedication and commitment throughout this time.

Featured image: Beach erosion on the Gold Coast following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Inline image 1: Team members preparing to stay at Buderim Views residential care home.
Inline image 2: Director of Operations Abhilash Sudhakaran shopping for supplies with Fairview General Manager Noku Sibanda.
Inline image 3: Sandbrook General Manager Milan Roy receiving a giant generator ahead of the severe weather event.