CEO UPDATE 15.6.2021

Dear Community,

What a week we have had!!  Like many of you living out here in the outer east of Melbourne, many of us have been greatly impacted by the devastating storms of last Wednesday night and some of us are still picking up the pieces, hence the timing of my reaching out to all of you, in the hope that you are okay.  If it is not COVID-19 and the continuing restrictions or lockdowns that we face, it is mother nature shaking her finger at us all and reminding us how precious our land and earth is.  We certainly need to heed her warnings and take notice of what is happening around us.  Thank goodness we are surrounded by people who care and can provide that helping hand when most needed. Having said that I want to remind you all that myself and the staff are here to assist you wherever we can and that we are only a phone call away – 03 9725 2166. 

Storm activity

Storm activity did impact our buildings and I wish to inform you that currently both Patterson Street and Croydon Way sites are still without power due to the storm activity of last week.  Only today was a fallen tree that has been blocking the road at Croydon Way been removed.  This tree had subsequently ripped out the phone and electricity lines from our building and other neighbouring properties including crushing a neighbouring car that was unfortunately parked on the road.  We are hopeful that Ausnet will be able to restore power but there is no estimation of time for this.  As you can appreciate there are still many homes and businesses without power, so it is just a wait and see for now.   Presently staff are still working from home but remain contactable via mobile and email until it we can return safely under the capacity limits rule provided by State Government. 

COVID restrictions update

As you will all be aware, Greater Melbourne came out of lockdown at 11:59pm last Thursday 10 June 2021.  Whilst lockdown is over, restrictions were and are still in force.  For a full list of restrictions please follow the link below:

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live

Programs/Activities

Food Pantry will operate via a delivery service for this week.  Should you be experiencing any hardship issues please contact Steve Beeby on (03) 9725 2166.  This is being done due to the power outage.  We are monitoring our service and will provide any updates to the Food Pantry as they come to light.

Other Activities

The current restrictions have limited our groups to a maximum of 10 people inclusive of staff.  Numbers like this are not easy to manage and means that it creates unpredictability for those who are able to attend any program/sessions/activities that we run without having strict RSVPs in place and as you know, we encourage everyone to join where we can, so in reality, 10 is not a great number for us.  So, for the remainder of this week, we will transition to zoom where we can whilst we wait for further updates from the State Government on more easing of restrictions, which we are hopeful of hearing about in the coming days.  Doing it this way also helps us to also wait for the restoration of power to our buildings. 

I know that this is frustrating, and we are doing the best we can to keep each other safe.  If at any time, you wish to discuss the current arrangements or want to know more about our programs, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to yarn with you during normal business hours from Monday to Friday (9am – 5pm).

Please follow us on Facebook for updates on our programs and other important information.

All the very best to each one of you.  I thank you for your patience and loyalty and cannot wait till we are able to resume our programs with some normality again very soon.  Stay warm and deadly!

Yours in unity,

Elke