2020 is a year that will be reflected on by many of us for all the wrong reasons , but for Community Support Frankston ( CSF ), it will also be remembered as a year when our team rose to all new challenges and exceeded even our expectations . We will also remember it as a time when new partnerships were formed , existing ones were strengthened , and it really did take a community .
There ’ s no denying the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic and terrible bushfires have been particularly cruel to Victorians , including the Frankston community . Many residents have suffered not just financially but also personally , through self-isolation , not being able to see and in some instances losing loved ones .
CSF ’ s volunteers and staff weren ’ t immune to this sadness , and we ’ ve greatly missed not being able to see many familiar faces at the centre and acknowledge the difficult times that we still find ourselves in . We also had more residents - both new and existing - reach out to CSF for financial , personal and material aid supports than in our organisation ’ s history .
We couldn ’ t be more proud of how the CSF team has both responded to and helped drive changes that continue to put the community first . As they say - flourish or flounder - and while it hasn ’ t been easy , we ’ re proud to be able to say the team both adapted and flourished in our provision of Emergency Relief ( ER ) to our community ’ s most vulnerable people .
Helping people in times of need is our core business and it ’ s what we ’ ve continued to do , providing a record amount of financial and in-kind material aid ($ 764,019 ) ER assistance to disadvantaged residents in the 2019-20 financial year .
This has been during a time where we ’ ve had drastic changes to our service model , processes and personnel .
CSF was fortunate to retain a number of volunteers through the pandemic , who still contributed 14,990 hours , and our efforts were also bolstered by a number of staffing redeployments through our key partner , Frankston City Council . Additional ER funds were also provided by the Department of Social Services ( DSS ) to assist us with increased community requests for assistance .
It ’ s important to acknowledge the importance and impact of the above mentioned staffing redeployments and resources , particularly through Frankston City Council . While additional funding is always well received , it ’ s having the right people - the right team - that ’ s most important . Thankfully , we were able to strike the right balance of essential service volunteers and paid staff in keeping up with community ER needs .
Social distancing and other Government requirements meant that CSF ’ s reception ‘ drop in ’ service needed to be put on pause at the end of March , but this only ramped up our service delivery .
The introduction of a phone triage and ( contactless ) home delivery service meant that we were still able to get essential ( particularly food ) assistance to those unable to shop for themselves .
Express post and e-voucher services were also utilised , but were quickly found to have limitations , particularly for the community ’ s most vulnerable .
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Community Support Frankston