Our Response to Covid-19
COVID-19 IS AFFECTING US ALL, BUT IT WILL DEVASTATE VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
Vulnerable families without savings or a reliable income will be most affected.
Amidst government imposed lockdowns and social distancing measures, many people are unable to work. For our most vulnerable families many of whom already rely on intermittent work and/or casual workthis could mean months without a solid income source. The Australian Government jobseeker and jobkeeper payments have cushioned the blow so far but, these payments will be severely cut back at the end of September. With little to none savings to fall back on, our families will struggle to keep a roof over their head AND feed their children.
HOW IS ESTHERS AUSTRALIA HELPING?
WE ARE ENSURING THAT WE ACT FAST BUT WISELY, IN ORDER TO PROTECT FAMILIES THAT HAVE VERY FEW OTHER SAFETY NETS.
Our mandate is to work with other services to build resilience in communities and prepare and support families throughout this challenging time by focusing on immediate and long-term solutions:
We are providing virus awareness and education to all of the women who we serve and their families.
By providing financial assistance to pay the medicare gap we have teamed up with external counselling services in order to provide the best mental health care for our clients.
By teaming up with local support services and churches we have been able to provide essential items to families in need, including food, masks and hand sanitizer.
We know that small loans are crucial to assist families to rebuild their lives following a crisis like this. These families will do what they can to survive and most are not looking for a hand out but rather a hand up. We are able to provide small emergency payments towards essential utilities to help our families in their most desperate times.
At a time when our own funding is low due to the economic crisis that we are now facing it is crucial that we do not abandon these families when they need us most.