Under cloudy and sometimes rainy skies, approximately 150 - 200 South Lismore residents came together at Nesbitt Park for a Community Recovery BBQ and Fun Day thanks to The Salvos, Generation Go, Crossroads Church and Arise Church.

Captain Philip Sutcliffe of the Northern Rivers Salvos told the Lismore App the day was about reminding people that all the support, particularly from local organisations hasn't disappeared.

"It's been nice to be out in the community, have a bit of music in the background, some good food and enjoy eachother's company to celebrate how far, as a community, we've come in six months."

"You look across the road here and there's a lot of empty houses across the road so lot's of work to go but you also see lot's of businesses reopening and lots of hope flowing back into our community."

Philip said today was just about talking to people and listening to their stories and seeing how they are going.

Jenna Breeze lived on Union Street and is now living in Casino with family.

(Jenna Breeze entertaining people at the South Lismore community day earlier today)

Jenna's home in Union Street is raised for the 1-in-100 year flood event but still the water reached head high.

"I call it my little crack house on the praire," Jenna laughs, "Because it's a mess. There's no walls, there's rubbish, you know, building crumbling and mortar everywhere."

Jenna cleaned up and gutted the house and is now waiting to hear from the government about house buybacks and landswaps as well as a report from her insurance company on the 'storm water' claim before she may then apply for the government grants.

The million dollar question for Jenna and residents like her is will she take the house buyback and move elsewhere?

"I think about this a lot and I think until I have it all in front of me and what it entails, only then can I assess it. I would like (to stay) if possible because my daughter goes to school here and I have a lot of people around here that I care about. My whole life is here, I was born here and I would like to stay if I can."

Jenna knows of quite a few friends that have left Lismore permanently because there is no where to stay.

(One of many houses around South Lismore)

"They went to Victoria, Brisbane and even further north just to find somewhere to live because it is uninhabitable."

The scars from 6 months ago run deep as one father of two was telling his story about his 11-year old son who doesn't understand why a fellow student cries when the rain becomes heavy. Many displaced residents suffer from this trigger.

Another local, Fiona, said one of her friends is living in a caravan which has been quite cold through the winter and an elderly work colleague can't go to the upper level in his house to live where his heating is so he has had to get in bed with the electric blanket on.

Six months on from the second worst natural disaster in Australia (in insurance dollar terms), as a community we have made progress, however, from a housing point of view we haven't moved quickly enough.

Thousands of families are now waiting for the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation to finalise the criteria so applications for house buybacks and land swaps can begin. The Premier promised that would be by the end of August which is this Wednesday.

In the meantime, charitable organisations like The Salvos, Generation Go and Crossroads and Arise Church will continue to hold community events.

(Tony Meston (Generation Go), Stephen Cooper (Crossroads Church), Alan Kirchen (Arise Church) and Philip & Donna Sutcliffe (Salvos) at today's event)

Captain Philip Sutcliffe said, "The longer it is for people to get back into their homes, the mental stress starts to build up so if we can be there for a listening ear and a smiling face we can provide that bit of hope on this long journey."

The Salvos have relocated their catering unit, which was based in Grafton, to Lismore. With the likelihood of another La Nina around 70%, the van will be close by to serve the community if needed.

"We'll keep popping up," Captain Sutcliffe said, "Our aim is that we'll pop up at different places around town for street barbecues or community barbecues to continue to provide that ongoing support."