The 2022 floods unified our community as friends, family, and perfect strangers pitched in to rescue, recover and rebuild the lives of those directly affected by Australia's most costly disaster.

An example of that was brought to light recently when the Rotary Club of Goonellabah held a morning tea to celebrate raising an incredible $500,000 to help people get back on their feet through the Repair to Make Liveable Flood Project.

Brian Henry, the Flood Recovery Committee Project Manager, said the club recognised there was a longer-term need to assist flood-affected people.

"Instead of committing our resources to assist in providing immediate emergency needs such as food, clothing, personal items and shelter etc, we focused on the next major stage of assisting in getting residents back into their homes via what was named the “Repair to Make Liveable Program”.

(Left to Right Standing: Ruth Harrison from Our House, Steve Smith from Lismore Soup Kitchen, Paul Murphy from Rotary Club of Goonellabah, Greg Isaac from Lismore Catholic Diocese, Brendan Muldoon from Joel Jensen Constructions, Melissa Gahan from Lismore Catholic Diocese, David Pearson from Rotary Australia World Community Service, John Oomen Rotary District 9640 District Governor. Left to Right Sitting: Renee Simpson, a Flood Impacted Resident, Leonie Baxter, a Flood Impacted Resident, Elly Bird from Resilient Lismore and Brian Henry from Rotary Club of Goonellabah)

"It was only through a well-organised co-operative approach that we have been successful. We commenced the program with $5,000 donated by club members and then leveraged that with contributions through our Rotary contacts, both locally and around Australia, as well as gaining matching contributions from local philanthropic organisations and a foundation.

"The $500,000 we raised in itself wasn’t sufficient to get the job done. We needed a cooperative approach from various local organisations and businesses to effectively undertake the repairs.

"We were fortunate to have the full support of Joel Jensen Construction and his crew of workers. In addition, Resilient Lismore played an important role in arranging and selecting residents who needed assistance with repairs and the Lismore Soup Kitchen support group assisted in coordinating many of the smaller repair projects.

"Many of the flood-impacted residents in and around Lismore are still living in partially restored homes. There is still much to be done.

"The success of this project certainly required a coordinated approach with various groups with specific skills. The Rotary Club of Goonellabah was very much hands-on in ensuring that the day-to-day coordination was carried out in an effective and timely manner.

The Repair to Make Liveable Flood Project carried out 64 repair projects of which 10 were significant, aimed at restoring a major room, such as a bathroom or kitchen at an average cost of $32,500 each.

(Before)

(After)

The vast majority of the significant projects were located in the South and North Lismore area, together with a couple of rural homes at Dungarubba (between Wardell and Coraki) and one in the river town of Woodburn.

"Whilst we will investigate the opportunity to raise further funding, we believe this will be difficult given the demand for flood assistance around the Taree area and the fact that the Lismore flood occurred over 3 years ago," Brian said.

"Regardless, the club has made a donation to the flood-impacted residents on the Mid North Coast through the Rotary Club of Wingham. Interestingly, it is now recognised and officially stated that Lismore will more likely take 10 years of restoration and redevelopment for the town to fully recover."

The Rotary Club of Goonellabah would like to thank their sponsors, who included:

• Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Community Enterprise Foundation
• Rotary Foundation Australia
• Rotary 9640 Flood Relief Fund
• Rotary Australia World Community Service
• Lismore Soup Kitchen
• Two local philanthropic organisations
• Behind the scenes supporters, such as Joel Jenson Constructions 
• Resilience Lismore
• And last but not least, the members of the Rotary Club of Goonellabah

To fully understand and appreciate the significance of what the Rotary Club of Goonellabah has achieved, take a close look at the images below. They tell the full flood story of a house on Phyllis Street, South Lismore, to make it liveable.