Yesterday, family of 9, Jiah, Hayley, Bella, Tenaya, Nathan, Tina, Baby Riley, Jasmine, Anarla and Jacob were provided with a dry and warm home to shelter in as the wet weather continues and the colder mornings fast approach.

Photo Credit: BDC

The family are like many, in the rebuilding phase of their Girards Hill home. In many cases in Lismore and the Northern Rivers, this is a process that could take 12 months or more so Lismore City Council has allowed people to place temporary housing structures such as Pods or caravans on their land for up to two years.

Yesterday's Pod delivery, build and presentation is part of the community-led initiative, triggered by a phone call from Mark O'Toole, flood survivor and responder, (whose story you can read here: SUNDAY PROFILE: Mark O'Toole Community Responder to the February flood) to Matt Glyne from BDC.

What happened next we covered in this story: Rotary and BDC housing our most vulnerable, while yesterday Mum Tina and Dad Nathan were holding the keys to the first of 12 homes. We can expect to see more pods being delivered within a matter of days to weeks.

As Tina and Nathan, and their kids entered their new space, Tina kept saying "how incredibly grateful we are, we absolutely cannot thank you enough".

The Pods are prefabricated, covering costs by BDC, then partially funded by Rotary, with the remaining funds raised by the families in need, through fundraisers or with the use of some grant funding, ensuring they are out of the rain, mud and cold.

They are built and placed on private land, unlike the Government Pods which are set up in specific sites like Wollongbar, which is another way flood-affected members of the community can have a more permanent roof over their heads. More information on those can be found here: Wollongbar Pods: What are they like for residents?

Resilience NSW are encouraging all flood-affected families and individuals to get back in touch or go direct to the Department of Community Justice (DCJ) to apply for housing if they are still without a suitable solution, such as those living in tents, cars, homes without walls or with mould issues, or couch surfing, for example.

In order to register your interest in receiving a Pod to house your family, Northern Rivers Community Gateway (NRCG) says to call, make an appointment, bring whatever evidence you can of your flood affected home and situation, and they will support you to apply if they deem you are eligible.

The community gathered to checkout the first pod

Jade who was at the event said "We know how much paperwork people have been going through, we have just one form, submitted once, with the required evidence, which we will support people with, to send off for the BDC and Rotary project heads, to then add to the list.

The journey ahead is long but it does offer hope.