Bushfire help centre shuts

By Kath Gannaway
THE Yarra Glen Recovery Centre, set up to assist bushfire-affected communities, has officially closed.
As staff of the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the Department of Human Services cleared their desks on Friday, there was a sense of having reached at least an interim milestone in the recovery process.
Yarra Ranges Council set up centres in Healesville and Yarra Glen memorial halls after the Black Saturday bushfires and in March last year Yarra Glen became the sole recovery centre for the region.
The Recovery Centre, along with all the agencies and support services, combined with the Yarra Glen Community Relief Centre at the old IGA building eight months ago providing a one-stop shop for the community recovery effort.
Gill Burke and Leanne Monfre of the shire of Yarra Ranges and Bill Brown from DHS had the job on Friday of turning off the lights.
Ms Monfre said they had met many amazing people and there was a sadness attached to the final day.
Mr Brown said it had been a challenging but rewarding 18 months and was personally thanked by one of the people he has been helping, Gary Rogers.
“Bill has been an enormous help, he has really gone in to bat for me,” said Mr Rogers who has a raft of battles still ahead of him.
Yarra Ranges councillor Jeanette McRae said the Recovery Centre had been an essential service for community members at a time of great need.
“In those early days when the task of rebuilding was so overwhelming and even finding internet access was a challenge, it was important to give people ready access to the information and services they needed,” Cr McRae said.
“It also provided a central point in the region where people could drop in to meet up with friends and neighbours, share their stories and provided a valuable social support.
Cr McRae paid tribute to the commitment of the staff from the council, the various agencies and the volunteers who gave of their time and resources, saying “this was pivotal to the support and recovery of the fire-affected communities”.
With the number of people using the centre steadily decreasing opening hours were reduced in March.
Cr McRae said the closure of the centre, based on reduced usage and visitation, had the backing of the Bushfire Recovery Community Reference Group (CRG), which compromises members drawn from across the fire-affected townships.
All services that were in the Recovery Centre can be contacted directly for assistance. A shire spokeswoman said the council’s community recovery team would continue to explore options to provide social support within the fire-affected communities, starting with weekly Coffee ’n’ Chat mornings beginning at the Yarra Glen Cafe and Store on Monday 19 April between 10am and 11.30am.
The Healesville Living and Learning Centre will also run sessions on “Tackling Tough Times”.
Cr McRae said anyone having difficulty finding or contacting a bushfire recovery service could contact the council on 1300 368 333 for information or check the bushfire recovery section on the council’s website.