The Rotary Club of Goonellabah has established a Post Flood Recovery Team made up of four members, Warwick Herbert, Tony Wunsch, Paul Murphy and Brian Henry.

The Post Flood Recovery Team is planning to raise some serious funding to help flood-affected people repair their bare-boned homes to get through the cold winter months.

The Rotary Club of Goonellabah has had a long relationship with The Winsome, assisting in funding activities for the Soup Kitchen which supplies meals and accommodation to local residents going through tough times.

That relationship has recently ramped up to assist The Winsome with their Flood Recovery Project which is aimed at having essential repairs undertaken on flood-impacted houses to at least get residents back into their homes prior to any financial assistance being received from the government programs.

Brian Henry is part of the Rotary Club of Goonellabah Post Recovery Team, "Basically, The Winsome team assess the applicants and then organises the materials and contractors to carry out the repairs," he said.

"This project is not about completing a full restoration, it's about essential repairs of key areas only and may consist of three or four rooms."

Funding for the project comes from a combination of the Winsome Flood Fund, the Lismore Catholic Diocese and the Rotary Club of Goonellabah.

(The Winsome's Ridley Bell accepting a $25,000 cheque from Rotary District Governor Karen Thomas and Goonellabah President Warwick Herbert)

"It's early days but to date, our club has been successful in raising $80,000 from its members and gaining a grant from the Rotary District Public Disaster Fund."

The funding is not through traditional barbecues but through grants. "We are the worst 'let's go and cook a snag and make some money'," Brian joked, "We go after grant funding. So, it is a combination of utilising the Australia-wide Rotary family and also government money."

Over the years, the Rotary Club of Goonellabah has been involved with some amazing projects like the Goonellabah Senior Citizens, the Wilson's River Heritage Centre (which became the Business Information Centre), the lift in the Town Hall, Kadina Park and the Our House Cancer Accommodation.

Brian told the Lismore App, they didn't race into the post-flood funding because they knew there was enough community service clubs supporting the initial emergency.

"We thought we could better serve the community by getting involved in some of the bigger picture items as this is going to be around for five to ten years. If the numbers I'm hearing are right, there's been about 600 applications to Resilient Lismore and the Winsome for assistance to get back into the home."

(A renovated North Lismore home to make life bearable during the cold winter months)

The goal is to raise $1 million in funding to assist with the project which aims to get flood-affected people living in their homes with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room renovated if that's what it takes to live a comfortable life while people wait to see if they are eligible for a house buyback, house raising or retrofit. You can imagine what life is like when you have stud walls and basic cooking items throughout winter.

"$1 million would be helpful in gaining traction in the implementation of the project. Funding aside, we are also being challenged by the time it is taking to finalise and implement government flood assistance programs and the scarcity of contractors associated with carrying out building repairs. We know there is a gap between receiving enough money to do essential repairs and when people will know for certain what program they are eligible for."

"Regardless, we just need to continue to push forward.....even though at the moment it's 'baby steps' progress."