COVID Care funding boost opens doors in Tasmania
COVID Care funding boost opens doors in Tasmania
2 February 2022
Stacey Milbourne (State Manager for Doorways Tasmania) with Deputy Premier of Tasmania Jeremy Rockliff (State Minister for Health) at the announcement of the COVID Care funding boost. The funding boost enables The Salvation Army to provide the most vulnerable with more food, medicine, and essentials.
Home isolation skyrocketed across Tasmania when the state opened its borders in mid-December, creating an extra burden on emergency and community services, including The Salvation Army.
Thankfully, the Tasmanian Government has updated its COVID Care package to aid The Salvation Army and community partners in providing assistance, including food, medicine, and other essentials, to people in need.
Volunteer Josh Foster is ready to deliver another load of items to community members in isolation.
Stacey Milbourne, State Manager for The Salvation Army’s Doorways emergency relief and counselling service, said it had been a challenging time.
“Since the pandemic began, we have seen an increase in new people accessing our ER (Emergency Relief) services. Many are reaching out to The Salvation Army for support due to the ongoing effects of COVID including loss of employment, from the tourism and hospitality sectors, international students, and [other] people struggling with day to day living expenses,” she said.
“One of our biggest challenges is accessing Rapid Antigen Tests and adapting to changing information and health guidelines. At this point, our ER and Drop-In centres can stay open, and we work hard to adapt our services and keep everyone safe.”
Collaborative effort
Doorways teams in Tasmania receive verified referrals from the Public Health Hotline every day. With the increase in hotel and home isolation since mid-December, the Salvos have become even more active, resourcing people or personally delivering groceries and medical supplies. But even before this, different Army expressions collaborated to help support the Tasmanian community.
Stacey recalled southern Tasmania’s three-day lockdown in October 2021. She received more than 26 emergency referrals in one weekend, with 16 emailed through in one batch – a huge task made easier when four corps officers stepped in to help fill the gap.
“Divisional Commander Captain Kim Haworth, Area Officer Captain Steven Haworth, Captain Tim Size (New Norfolk) and Captain Joel Clifford (Clarence City) joined my husband and me, and we split the list four ways, shopped for food and essential items, and made house calls,” she recalls. “We [Doorways] couldn’t provide emergency relief without help from supportive corps officers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Stacey added that it’s not just the “southern Salvos” in the state stepping up. The pandemic has required collaboration from coast to coast, and with shipping delays or staff in isolation, different Doorways teams have been leaping into action after a single phone call to help people in their vicinity.
“I made a call to Bethany Baker, the Doorways Facilitator in Devonport, and Shannon Lindemeier in Launceston – both sites are two and a half to four hours from where I am based in the south, and both Doorways facilitators personally went shopping and left the groceries at someone’s doorstep,” said Stacey. “I am so blessed to have such a wonderful team, including Anita Reeve [Regional Manager for Northern Tasmania] and her team. They go above and beyond and genuinely care about their clients, and their dedication helps to ensure we can get food and essential items to people in need as soon as possible.”
As Doorways staff have responded to the needs of Tasmanians, they also noticed an increase in the needs of Temporary Visa Holders and international students. An estimated two-thirds of Doorways COVID-related referrals come into this category, prompting Glenorchy Doorways to start an International Student Lounge in December.
“Doorways in Tasmania rocks,” reflects Stacey. “I’m so lucky to work with this team.”
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