A culture of caring

Personal needs were set aside and professional instincts came to the fore after Canterbury’s earthquake.

At 4.35am on Saturday September 4, New Brighton’s Work and Income service centre manager Nathan Harper was woken by a roar. His house heaved, throwing his partner across the room.

“The place was rocking so much it was hard to get to her. The house made a horrific groaning noise. When it stopped my first instinct was to get out of the house, but when I opened the door there was a river of water and sand flowing down the driveway.”

As the sun rose, the damage became obvious. The house had sunk. The floor was cracked open. In less than a minute, Nathan’s home had become uninhabitable.

But for Nathan, as for many others like him, the initial shock was replaced by the need to get to work and respond to the emergency. Around Christchurch phones were beginning to ring.

“I was just so proud of my team at New Brighton,” said Nathan. “I phoned them all to see if they were ok; the last thing I wanted to do next was to ask them to work.

“But there was no ‘we can’t do this’. We grabbed our continuity plans and got to work.”

Coordinating the welfare response

Michelle Mitchell, Regional Commissioner for Social Development, chairs Canterbury’s Welfare Advisory Group (WAG) which coordinates the region’s welfare response efforts in a civil defence emergency.

“I knew from the severity of the quake that there would be damage. The need for welfare centres was evident straightaway and I had to get that process started.”

By mid morning, Michelle had called family to care for her two children, and swapped the phone at home for a phone in the Emergency Operations Centre in the Christchurch Art Gallery. For the next six days, for up to 20 hours a day, she and regional director Ivan Iafeta worked shoulder to shoulder with other organisations, to co-ordinate food, shelter, housing, financial assistance, psychological and social support for quake-hit Cantabrians.

“We were pretty shook up ourselves, and the aftershocks kept coming. But everyone - the Red Cross, the councils, the army, the police, welfare teams, everyone - was doing what they were supposed to do. We were part of a much bigger picture; a huge, coordinated response.”

Welfare Centres

Less than half a day after the quake hit, welfare centres were open. At Linwood High School, Work and Income, Red Cross, Child, Youth and Family, the Salvation Army, Victim Support, St Johns and Te Puni Kokiri set up in the school hall.

Work and Income service centre managers Lynley Bateman and Wyn Jarvis found school desks for staff to start helping people with food, finances and clothing.

Child, Youth and Family (CYF) social workers joined the welfare centres to support traumatised families and children.

Like everyone, case manager Lynette Stevenns had spent the early part of September 4 coping with upheaval at home. Her nine-year-old daughter was terrified, her husband was shocked, her home was in disarray and soaked with water. But by 1pm, having made certain that her family were coping, she joined the first shift at the Linwood welfare centre.

Others turned up to help leaving damaged homes and property. As the days unfolded, many would go to work during the day and take a shift at the welfare centres at night, carrying out their jobs among mattresses and bedding.

Connecting with vulnerable people

While the welfare centres provided immediate emergency shelter and a point of contact, there was concern that thousands of vulnerable people could be missed. So began a massive undertaking by a range of agencies to connect with clients and vulnerable people, to check if they needed help.

Thousands of outbound phone calls and door to door visits were made to senior citizens, sickness beneficiaries, caregivers, foster parents and other vulnerable people, especially in the worst hit areas.

"We can help you in all sorts of ways. You don't have to be on a benefit," case manager Shirley Bell told one woman as she stood on her doorstep. The woman, having insisted that she was fine, then burst into tears.

Making do

According to the Earthquake Commission, the quake left 2737 homes unliveable and another 3053 open to the weather. Fifty-one buildings in the Christchurch CBD were declared unsafe.

In the first days after the quake, with several of MSD's facilities closed, teams of engineers and inspectors urgently assessed the buildings. Also caught up in the destruction were community social service providers. Some, like Methodist Social Services, saw their premises destroyed, while others are still working out of temporary buildings.

Many were concerned at being unable to provide usual services, let alone cope with extra quake demands. But a spirit of innovation and cooperation saw organisations sharing offices, desks and computers to keep others in business. Family and Community Services assigned a co-ordinator to assist this sharing of resources, and work with national organisations to divert resources into the area.

In the second week after the earthquake, outside staff reinforcements started to arrive. Across the country case managers, social workers and other relief staff put their hands up for the task. The Salvation Army brought in teams from Australia.

Australian Salvation Army counsellor Michael Gould said local support workers were as affected by the disaster as many of their clients.

Family violence response coordinator Jill Ashton said: "I don't think people here realised how tired and down we were until people came in from outside with normal energy levels."

Recovery

As accommodation was found for the displaced families of Christchurch, welfare centres were replaced by recovery centres.

Social service organisations teamed up to "wrap" their services around people. At Kaiapoi recovery centre, Work and Income employment coordinator Lynne Price said: "Everything was there - advocacy, counselling, housing, financial help, toys for the kids, tea, couches. It was nurturing and great to be part of it."

Unsurprisingly, demand for basic services such as food parcels and financial assistance had spiralled. Organisations such as Barnardos and the Christchurch

Women's Refuge also reported a dramatic jump in calls for their assistance.

Extra funding was made available for non-government service providers to cope with extra demand, and to provide coordinated trauma counselling services.

Jill Ashton, normally a family violence response coordinator, was re-assigned to manage the recovery centre at Linwood Community Link. "I'm used to hearing stories about family violence... but some of these people were just so shell shocked. One woman told me that their family business had gone, their house was cracked and leaning, she had kids, and she was trying to hold it all together."

Behind the scenes

In Wellington, the National Crisis Management Centre activated within an hour of the earthquake, gathering intelligence, coordinating support and providing public information.

The National Welfare Coordination Group (NWCG) of national-level government and non-government welfare agencies swung into action, chaired by Work and Income's national commissioner Liz Jones. "This was the biggest event we'd ever responded to. We were very focussed on supporting fast and coordinated welfare responses for the people of Canterbury."

MSD's own emergency operation centre also set in motion and would remain active 24/7 for the next 10 days. The 0800 Government Helpline was activated.

Work and Income national emergency management team manager Anne Stevenson said "Usually I am part of a small team, but this needed every part of the business to step up to support both the staff in Canterbury and the people they serve."

The Prime Minister and other Government Ministers engaged quickly with Canterbury. Minster of Social Development Paula Bennett said "I couldn't make huge and rapid policy decisions for Canterbury without coming here, listening to people and feeling what they are going through."

Minister Bennett said people had put their own lives second to help others. The response had been impressive, but there was much to do before Canterbury fully recovered.

Stronger Canterbury

In Christchurch, Michelle Mitchell has temporarily handed over the reins of the Regional Commissioner to lead the Social Environment Task Group (SETG), overseeing activities to restore the wellbeing of Canterbury's communities.

SETG includes MSD, Ministry of Education, Housing New Zealand, Inland Revenue, city and district councils, Civil Defence and Emergency Management, the District Health Board, the Earthquake Commission, Te Puni Kokiri and the Red Cross.

Michelle said they faced a big task, but community organisations and government agencies were working shoulder to shoulder to get people's lives back on track, re-establish vibrancy and a sense of connection.

"The message now is rebuild and regenerate - Christchurch is a great place to be."

18,000 superannuitants were contacted by Students, Seniors and Integrity Services
Home visits were made to 1000 elderly people
Work and Income contacted 3500 sickness and invalid benefit clients
Child, Youth and Family contacted 650 caregivers and foster parents
In the worst hit areas, welfare workers teamed up with building inspectors to visit 3600 households
Salvation Army delivered 10,000 packs of food and information to households in the Kaiapoi area
Red Cross delivered food packs to 500 rural households who were without power for more than four days
St Johns contacted 3000 people with medical alarms
Police and Red Cross contacted people dependant on power for their health
ACC contacted clients with accessibility difficulties
Ministry of Education contacted parents or caregivers of special needs or disabled children
Ngai Tahu call centre contacted 500 families and all elders
Family and Community Services contacted 200 community social service providers
$7.5 million to assist non-government social service providers
$2.5 million for counselling services and support
0800 Government Helpline activated on September 4, and continues to be active. By mid-October more than 19,000 calls were received
Right Service Right Time helpline set up
Minister responsible for earthquake recovery appointed
$5 million Mayoral fund for people displaced from home
$15 million assistance programme for employers to subsidise wages
Counselling and support in schools
Ongoing community meetings