Overview of our ongoing Community-Led Crisis Operations, based in Mullumbimby and servicing the Northern Rivers

A lot has happened since the onset of the floods and it is at times difficult to understand what is going on. We thus want to provide some clarity on Resilient Byron’s floods response and recovery activities and also warmly express our thanks.

The last two weeks have seen the rapid evolution of an organised, effective and caring response from the community, serving Mullumbimby and increasingly the wider Northern Rivers region. We can describe this response as a form of community deployment that is as sophisticated and strategic as it is organic and heart-filled. 

From day one of the floods, Monday 28 February, we began our activities on the ground, in town and in the surrounding regions.

Every day the size and scale of the community-led activities doubled, and after one week, with the assistance of the Council, we transitioned our operations into our current suite of locations of CWA Hall (headquarters), RSL space (donations depot), public space to the side of the Civic Hall (clean teams, public info, safe space), Station Street car park (Free Shop of Love).

We also continue to be operational in the isolated communities in the ridges and valleys near Mullumbimby (Upper Main Arm, Upper Wilson's Creek, Hounbrook), support the community response in South Golden Beach, Ocean Shores and New Brighton, and continue to service many villages and regions within a 50km radius when and as needed, in collaboration and coordination with community-led operations and service delivery in other areas (up to Uki, down to Evans Head, Woodburn and Coraki, and out to Nimbin and The Channon).

So far, our current activities include:

1. ISOLATED COMMUNITY SPECIAL OPERATIONS:
   Providing life-saving aid to communities isolated in the hills and valleys around the Byron Shire and other Shires of the Northern Rivers. We have been organising exploratory treks, welfare checks, coordinating with many others around life-saving private helicopter evacuations, setting up climbing lines and pulley system supply lines, sending food, medicines, donated Starlink Satellites, radios, WIFI and other telecommunications devices to isolated communities and coordinating teams of professional climbers, riggers, arborists, paramedics and more on dozens of day-long expeditions.

2. TOWN CARE:
   Coordinating house cleaning and care teams in several towns in the Byron Shire. We are organising hundreds of volunteers into care teams for door-knocking welfare checks, clean-up teams, delivery of essential items, tradies and friendly smiles and warm hearts.

3. DONATIONS SUPPLY CHAIN:
   Receiving, organising, and redistributing tens of thousands of donated items to many parts of the Northern Rivers, in coordination with other community-led hubs.

4. TRAUMA-AWARE VITAL SUPPLIES SPACE:
   Running a quiet, trauma-informed space (“Free Shop of Love”) to help flood-affected residents find and be given the essential items that they need, including clothing, bedding, toiletries, and moments of respite and calm.

5. PUBLIC WELCOME AND INFO:
   Providing ongoing general and specific information in person and online to help people understand what is happening and where they can get help.

6. CARE SPACES:
   Creating a space for local practitioners, professionals and therapists to give free bodywork and care to all who are hurting and/or exhausted.

7. BACK END SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT:
   Setting up large-scale and sustainable organisational, digital, communications and coordination systems to support different community coordinators, crew members and volunteers throughout the Northern Rivers.

8. REGIONAL COORDINATION:
   Developing ongoing coordination with other community-led organisations and crisis operations across the Northern Rivers, including with communities in Upper Wilson’s Creek, Wilson’s Creek, Upper Huonbrook, Huonbrook, Wanganui, Upper Main Arm, Main Arm, South Golden Beach, Ocean Shores and New Brighton but also Lismore, Murwillumbah, Evans Head, Coraki, Woodburn, Uki and more.

9. GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY COORDINATION:
   Continuously coordinating with local, state and national authorities, including the Byron Shire Council, the SES, Fire & Rescue NSW, the NSW Police, ADF, Resilience NSW, and more, as well as local, state and Federal politicians.

This builds on the work we were already doing before the floods, in particular our Northern Rivers Community Carers and Responders (CCRs) Network. Through this project we are training, equipping and supporting neighbourhood activators and community leaders across the Northern Rivers to become an official network of 100+ volunteer Community Carers and Responders (CCRs) to assist with critical aspects of local community building and disaster resilience.

The community-led activity we are now coordinating in Mullumbimby evolved from the efforts and energies of many heroic individuals taking immediate action in the first hours of the floods. 

There were many challenges and lessons learnt, but each day since Monday 28 February, our crisis operations have grown in size, scale, scope, strength and sophistication with a continuous ‘yes’ response to finding ways to support the ongoing multifaceted needs of our community for urgent and comprehensive support. And every day we are shouldering the many risks, which encompass our communities' survival needs as best we can. We are committed to continuing servicing our communities in the long term.

As you will see today in the Echo, we would like to pause and express our deepest gratitude to the Byron Shire Council staff, in particular but not limited to Mark Arnold, Vanessa Adams, Deborah Stafford, Sarah Boulle and Emily Fajerman, who have worked tirelessly to support the emergence of this rich community-led response and accommodate all of our activities.

We also thank the local Mullumbimby CWA who have generously provided their Hall for multiple weeks so that we have a secure physical location from which to run our multifaceted operations.  

Massive thanks to the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club (RSL) for generously giving us their event space to convert into our Donations Depot. Big gratitude for also being the spontaneous evacuation centre on the first few nights of the flood disaster. 

We acknowledge and highly commend the tireless great work of the Mullumbimby & District Neighbourhood Centre during this disaster and always.

We also thank Resilience NSW for helping open doors between government, agencies and community-led work.

And we wish to thank and acknowledge everyone in the massive devastation, the collective grief, the beauty and necessary connection, communication and the collaboration brought by this epic climate event.

We look forward to continuing working with you and standing alongside our incredible community in the months ahead.