Regular yoga and other wellbeing sessions are now being offered in the air-conditioned M*A*S*H tent provided by Fire Rescue Victoria and Urban Search and Rescue at the Ruffy Hall.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Homes can be rebuilt, fences can be replaced and while that can take some time, the mental health and wellbeing of those affected by fire events cannot wait a moment after disaster strikes.
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The Tablelands Fire Recovery Hub was established in the early days following the Longwood bushfire that razed the region around its Ruffy Hall base in January, with volunteers offering round-the-clock support.
Nine weeks on, some residents report feeling a little deserted by those outside the fire zone who think that because the fire is over, life has reverted to regular programming for those inside it.
Hub volunteer Coll Furlanetto says the old normal will never return, instead, there will be a new normal.
“Some people feel like they’re making five steps forward and three back, but they’re getting where they need to be for them,” she said.
“That’s part of anything in recovery, whether it’s physical recovery from surgery or something else; if you overdo it, you set yourself back.”
The support at the hub has remained unwavering.
It is still open seven days a week, still providing cooked meals and help-yourself food and staples for free, still offering the use of showers, washing machines and dryers.
The volunteer leadership team is still co-ordinating fodder and hay, organising events to keep the community connected, helping applicants with grants, and actively informing the district of developments on social media and with flyers.
And, if all anyone needs is a hug, there’s plenty of outstretched arms ready to provide those, too.
Now that they’ve caught their breath, there is routine and structure in place.
The M*A*S*H tent or ‘mending alongside shared hope’ tent has been set up semi-permanently in the garden of the Ruffy Hall.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
They recently took delivery of a new semi-permanent ‘M*A*S*H tent’, provided by Fire Rescue Victoria and Urban Search and Rescue, cooled by two air-conditioners, where a children’s space has been set up, and yoga sessions, and the like, take place.
Mrs Furlanetto said it looked like the M*A*S*H tent from the 1970s and ’80s TV show of the same name, and the acronym they created from the letters was ‘mending alongside shared hope’.
The tent has been provided by Fire Rescue Victoria and Urban Search and Rescue.
“Coming from a nursing background, I’ve had a focus on mental health and wellbeing and getting clinicians in on a regular basis,” she said.
“We’ve had psychologists and counsellors donate their time for a month, and now we’re into an agreement where there’ll be some consistent support tiers.
“Goulburn Valley Health are helping us with someone, feet on the ground, a couple of days a week, which will be wonderful.
“And then we’ve got Primary Care Connect and Family Care and Mental Health and Wellbeing Local coming on regular days.”
The main fire recovery hub is in Euroa, but Mrs Furlanetto said the Tablelands hub at Ruffy was catching people from up, down and across the hill, saving them from having to travel to major centres.
The hub will evolve as it needs to over the next six to 12 months that it’s expected to remain open, but there will be further challenges in the coming seasons.
“We’ll go through a really cold winter and we’ve got a lot of people living in caravans and living it a bit tough,” Mrs Furlanetto said.
“We’re hoping there’ll be permanent showers here in some capacity because that’s proven an ongoing need.
“And we need some heating in the hall, we’ve got no split systems in the hall.
“So we are trying to advocate and do some fundraising for a couple of split systems in there because when it’s cold up here, we’ll need to have some heating.”
