Emergency Ministry in Victoria and Tasmania
The summer season of drought and bushfires have merged into a period of physical isolation and lock-down in the current pandemic. Emergency Ministry staff and volunteers share with us what their Ministry roles look like in this extremely busy and difficult time.
Emergencies Ministry responding in Victoria - VCCEM
The work of VCC Emergencies Ministry hasn’t stopped this year. We have gone from responding to fires, recovery and impact assessments of fire affected communities and from there straight in to supporting communities affected by COVID-19. It’s been an extremely long 6 months with our volunteers completing more days of service so far this year than 2018 and 2019 combined.
From late March, VCC EM asked volunteers to provide phone support to people adversely affected by self-isolation. Those we contacted had requested calls to check on their needs and just have a chat about how they were coping.
Armed with a script and after a quick heads up we embarked on our mission. Calling strangers without the visual clues to their conditions can be challenging, but we were able to establish rapport and draw out any problems or concerns.
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Reflections by Barbara: A young refugee woman self-isolating while fasting for Orthodox Easter was given a food package that contained items she was abstaining from. Her faith was strong and she was not eating enough at all. I was able to direct her to the Refugee Support service near her home. Another woman caring for a young adult male on the autism spectrum was unable to procure the few, specific food items that he would eat, but assured me she would be OK if he became violent because she had a Rottweiler to protect her. She was able to communicate with his special school to obtain a laptop for him to do his schoolwork and was planning to contact more support services I mentioned. Another woman, a paraplegic being cared for by her mother, had been refused the delivery service by Woolworths, so we organised an extra care package for them. Services provided by the government were more than reasonable, but the people we contacted were often able to gain extra services when we intervened and they all appreciated the support we provided. It was most rewarding to be able to provide some support under these circumstances. |
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Reflections by Peter: I felt quite excited about this deployment as I prepared for the pre-shift video meeting. Either the technology or the user messed up, but either way I missed the briefing. Undaunted I made my first call to be greeted by the words: “I was waiting for your call’’. My confidence and enthusiasm began to return as we chatted about her situation and needs. Being in a rural location, this person described her situation as "being as quiet as church mice’’. I paused and said that those words reminded of children’s books by Graham Oakley and we happily reminisced about reading those books with our children. With the mood softened, the person became peaceful and reflective as she recalled the pleasures of reading and sharing the laughter with her children. We drifted into silence, which ended with her long satisfied sigh. In that profound moment we had deeply connected sharing that beautiful experience. |
The VCC are hopeful of being able to recommence training soon. If you would like to join please go to www.vccem.org.au and click on the training tab.
Emergencies Ministry responding in Tasmania - TCCEM
Tasmanian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry (TCCEM) is currently activated in a number of ways, with the government seeing them as a one-stop contact point representing all faith communities statewide and as a provider of various services.
TCCEM have been deployed by the Department of Communities Tasmania to offer Psychological First Aid to passengers disembarking the Spirit of Tasmania ferries in Devonport; while a few people are exempted, the majority of travellers are heading into 14 days mandatory quarantine and many are anxious for a variety of reasons. TCCEM volunteers spend some time with people and bring a sense of calm, peace and hope. The deployments commenced on April 5th and currently deploy 2 volunteers at 6.15 am six days a week.
Travellers arriving in Tasmania and placed into mandatory quarantine are given various information including a sheet that details where people can access additional support. TCC Emergencies Ministry is listed for people seeking Emotional Spiritual Care and chaplaincy support.
The TCCEM chaplaincy service at Hobart Airport has been a godsend to the airport community with hundreds of people losing their jobs or being stood down and our team of 5 airport chaplains will journey with the staff (and passengers) there.
State Officer for TCCEM, Gus Yearsley, attends weekly or fortnightly meetings of the Tasmanian Government’s Regional Social Recovery Committees and contributing to discussions around how various departments and NGOs are caring for the community, how various NGO services can be improved and forward planning if a further round of restrictions is required. TCCEM Regional Coordinators (Paul Hueston, Jacky Laing and James Todd) also attend these meetings.
Two local councils have asked TCCEM to provide their staff with a short-course in Psychological First Aid, which we are preparing and will hopefully deliver in the next two weeks. One local council asked for our assistance to offer pastoral care to an elderly gentleman whose wife was in hospital with COVID-19; sadly, she died and our volunteer was able to call the gentleman again and has offered further support.
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“In addition to the formal activation of TCC Emergencies Ministry, we are aware of many of our volunteers serving faithfully amongst their local communities and going the extra mile to help those in need. We currently have 180 volunteers and the hard work done over recent years to strengthen the volunteer base both in terms of numbers and in the quality of our training program has paid off. “We expect the work of TCC Emergencies Ministry to continue and perhaps even increase over the coming months of our State’s COVID-19 recovery” says Gus Yearsley, TCCEM State Officer. |
For further information on the ministry of TCCEM, go to www.tccem.org.au
The Australian Volunteer Emergency Chaplain Alliance - AVECA
The Alliance allows for the practical engagement of the Churches with Federal and State governments and community and raises the value and importance of spiritual care in community recovery. AVECA supports capability and capacity building through coordinated and networked resources in the churches.
The alliance consists of the Victoria’s VCCEM, the Tasmania’s TCCEM, the New South Wales’ DRCN, ACT’s ACTDRCN, South Australia’s D&DRMSA, and the emergency ministries in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.
For more information visit the NCCA webpage.
