Here for a good future

Water? Check. Food for three days? Tick. Charged batteries for the torch? Done. Had a chat to the neighbours?

It was to be their own slice of paradise. When Kathryn Jackson and husband Andy bought their Brooklands home just north of Christchurch, they hadn’t just bought a home, they had bought into a neighbourhood.

On a cold, sunny Wednesday morning, the University of Canterbury hall is buzzing with students attending a Winter Wellness event. Amidst cold house improvement tips and blood pressure measurements, the Bounce.org.nz stall stands out. 

People who are socially connected recover faster and more effectively from disasters. However, some people with mental health issues might struggle to make those social connections. How can we help those people, so they are better prepared when there is an emergency?

When the first earthquake rattled the South Island on 4 September 2010, Christchurch community organisation Stopping Violence Services (SVS), lost their workplace. The organisation, which rehabilitates perpetrators of domestic violence, relocated to another building, only to lose that in the February 2011 quake.

When a disaster strikes, physical needs such as clean water, food and medical care often get the most attention; but in an emergency, those practical needs are not the only things that need to be taken care of.