Echo Youth and Family Services, a local welfare organisation based in Emerald has been successful in securing philanthropic funding to expand the multi-award winning Ready2Go Disaster Resilience Program across more communities in Victoria.
Ready2Go is a community-led disaster and emergency resilience program, which supports people who are unable to adequately safeguard against the effects of extreme weather, including heat, storm, fire and other emergencies.
Echo is working in cooperation with Emergency Management Victoria to expand the successful Cockatoo based Ready2Go program with a further ten communities over the next two years.
The program matches vulnerable residents with registered and trained volunteer community members who can provide information, support, visitation checks and early relocation prior to extreme weather events.
Ready2Go Team Leader Wayne Collins said, ‘’We know that supporting vulnerable people to remain living within their communities, and helping them to have strong social connections, can be an important part of improving health outcomes and becoming more resilient, and Ready2Go does that.
Our research has demonstrated that Ready2Go has been key in helping vulnerable people feel safe, stay safe, feel like part of their community, to become more involved in their community and to live independently.”
Ready2Go helps enhance the village atmosphere by providing a valuable opportunity for communities to assist their vulnerable residents to build connections and relationships, with the potential to access support services, so that they can move to safer places prior to predicted weather events that pose risks to them.
The Ready2Go Victoria project is jointly funded by Gandel Foundation and the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
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