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21
Jun
2021
During the devastating 2019–2020 Australian bushfires, Gabbi’s neighbours stood and watched helplessly from the distance as a massive forest fire roared over the ridge and engulfed her house.
Gabbi’s home was one of 10 lost on their Paddy’s Flat, Northern NSW, multiple occupancy community that day. The fires were so ferocious, with trees exploding and searing flames catapulting into the sky, that no one could do a thing except save their own lives and get out of the way.
Gabbi was in Adelaide at the time. The phone call from back home was devastating.
‘Everything I had in the world was in that house. Everything apart from the carry-on bag I had taken on the plane to Adelaide. I was in shock for days. It seemed incomprehensible to me,’ she said.
Gabbi stayed in Adelaide with friends, family and UnitingCare SA for a few months as the whole nation grappled with the grim reality of the unprecedented bushfires that were raging across most of Australia.
When she heard there were government workers coming to the community to help residents clean up, she drove back home with the help of a generous friend, to see if anything could be salvaged.
‘The day they lifted the burned and twisted tin roof off my house, I knew that it was indeed all gone. Not a memory remained. Not even my cast iron wood stove survived the inferno.
‘My house had been burned to the ground. I had no insurance. And I was now a mature-aged homeless woman with nowhere to live. The thought of starting again was daunting. I just stood there in disbelief crying. How had it come to this?’
By chance, Gabbi learned about a program called Container of Dreams, which was offering a series of practical, hands-on workshops for small groups of participants so they could learn how to build a tiny home on wheels.
The dwellings sit on a large trailer and can be easily towed and include a kitchenette, a bathroom with a full-sized bath and toilet, plus lounge and dining zones, and a pull-down queen-sized wall bed for sleeping in comfort.
‘It sounded like a brilliant idea to me,’ Gabbi said. ‘The project was designed to help people who had lost everything in the bushfires get back on their feet again.
‘I desperately needed a home to live in and if I could learn how to build one with my own hands using some basic skills and tools, that would be amazing.
‘I’d never built anything before, but I was super excited by the idea. It was the first time I felt optimistic in months.’
Gabbi got in touch with Clare Urquhart, founder of Container of Dreams, and joined her workshop group.
‘At our first workshop, Clare told me that the tiny house that I’d be working on was actually going to end up being donated to me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was so amazing. I was so emotional.’
Clare’s vision is to help vulnerable and homeless people, including those who have lost their homes in bushfires and floods, to acquire a tiny home on wheels. Her project provides them with the skills and knowledge they need to build it, and hands-on practical help from a team of volunteer tradespeople who work alongside them.
Healthy North Coast Chief Executive Officer, Julie Sturgess, said the 2019–2020 bushfires had a devastating impact on North Coast communities, with hundreds of local homes lost.
‘We were pleased to be able to offer funding to the Container of Dreams project. Awarded grants have supported 21 projects designed to help build social connection, mental wellbeing and resilience, and to support healing and recovery from the impact of the bushfires,’ she said.
‘Grant funding of up to $10,000 per project is being delivered through the North Coast PHN Program and the Australian Government’s ‘Supporting Communities in Bushfire Recovery’ initiative. We are currently assessing a final round of applications and those winners will be announced shortly.’
‘Container of Dreams is a fantastic project. I feel very blessed to have found it,’ Gabbi said. ‘When I go out to the work site and start working on my tiny home, I feel so glad for the skills I am being taught. The knowledge that when it is finished, I will be able to get a truck and tow it onto my land, is incredibly motivating.
‘It’s been really great for my mental health as well. I was having a big struggle with PTSD since the fires and finding it hard not to fall into depression every day. My whole community was shattered, so the only people I knew and mixed with were those who had lost everything like me.
‘Then when I moved to Lismore, it was into a motel and COVID had started, and everyone was self-isolating. I was finding it hard mentally, with no friends and no social interaction. Getting involved in the Container of Dreams project helped save my life.
‘The companionship and support I have received have been tremendous, not to mention the skills I am being taught by a whole bunch of amazing tradespeople involved in the project.’
CEO and founder of Container of Dreams, Clare Urquhart, developed her business idea following her PhD research project, Container of Dreams, during which she converted a shipping container into a small home.
‘A house is a container of dreams. We all dream of having our own home. Sadly, this dream is getting further and further away for so many in our community,’ she said.
‘Around 2,500 homes – many uninsured – perished in the devastating Australian bushfires of 2019 and 2020, causing a homelessness crisis.
‘At Container of Dreams we are committed to assisting these people to rebuild their lives and to enjoy the security of affordable housing.’
To find out more or to donate, visit the Container of Dreams project.
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Contact for media enquiries
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Phone: 0428 623 093
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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands across our region, and pay our respect to Elders past, present and on their journey. We recognise these lands were never ceded and acknowledge the continuation of culture and connection to the land, sky and sea. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the Land’s first peoples and honour the rich diversity of the oldest living cultures.
Strategic Priority Area: One team
North Coast is identified as the region most likely to be impacted by climate change in Australia and also forecasted greatest growth in those 65+.
Healthy North Coast takes a lead role in ensuring the older population and the sector that supports them are prepared for, can respond to and recover from disasters and other emergencies.
We have led eight regional disaster management capacity building workshops, bringing together SES, community organisations and the aged care sector.
We have also developed disaster preparedness tip sheets for both residential and community aged care providers.
Strategic Priority Area: One team
In May 2022, the NSW Parliament passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022. Effective from Tuesday, 28 November 2023, eligible people have the choice to access voluntary assisted dying.
Healthy North Coast has developed a webpage for both health professionals and consumers, with links to available information and resources.
Strategic Priority Area: No one is left behind
Healthy North Coast has worked with people living with dementia, their families and local service providers to develop an information booklet that will help them connect with local and national supports along their journey.
The booklet includes commonly asked questions for people to ask their GP and/or specialist.
The resource is available in digital and printed copies, with more than 5,000 distributed across the region. An e-version is available to clinicians via the Dementia and Cognitive Impairment HealthPathway.
Strategic Priority Area: One team
The Deteriorating Resident Response Tool (DRRT) has been developed to guide RN’s in Residential Aged Care homes (RACHs) to better understand, anticipate and make clinical decisions responding to the deteriorating health of residents.
The objective of the DRRT is to give RACH staff clear information to triage and provide appropriate care for a range of residents’ health conditions, and, in turn, prevent unnecessary presentations to ED.
The tool has been designed together with a specialist geriatrician, consulting with stakeholders such as Residential Aged Care Managers, NSW Ambulance, GPs, and experts from Mid and North Coast LHDs.
The pilot commences in March with four participating RACHs. Evaluation measures will include effectiveness in building RN confidence and reported reduction in unnecessary hospitalisations. Findings will inform a future planned, region-wide implementation.
Strategic Priority Area: No one is left behind
The Care Finders program is a free region-wide service to support vulnerable older people who have no-one else to help them, to learn about, apply for and set up support services.
Care finders can help people understand what aged care services are available, set up an assessment, and find and choose services. They also help people with access to other supports in the community, both accessing services for the first time and changing or finding new services and supports.
On the North Coast, Healthy North Coast has commissioned four organisations to provide this important service: EACH, Carexcell, Lifetime Connect and Footprints.
Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now
Healthy North Coast commissions two service providers to deliver psychological therapies and supports for older people with, or at risk of developing, a mental illness and who are living in residential aged care homes (RACHs).
The aim of the program is to both provide direct support to residents and their families and carers, as well as upskill the RACH workforce to respond to the needs of residents presenting with mental health concerns.
Strategic Priority Area: Securing a Healthier Future
Delivered by Feros Care, the Healthy Me, Healthy Community program aims to build individual and community connections to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing in Port Macquarie.
The program helps people to connect with community, activities, supports and services that address their broader social determinants of health, as an alternative or supplement to a clinical approach.
Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now
Timely access to primary health care professionals, whether through face-to-face consultation or telehealth, is recognised as an issue for many Residential Aged Care Homes (RACHs), that in some cases can lead to potentially preventable hospitalisations. RACHs require adequate telehealth facilities to support access to virtual consultations for their residents.
Project goals
Strategic Priority Area: Improving Lives Now
Aims to provide people who have life limiting conditions the opportunity to exercise choice and receive high quality care at home, harnessing improved and better coordinated supports and services that meet their individual needs.
Program objectives:
These objectives will contribute to achieving the following intended overarching outcomes of:
Funding is open to all primary care providers within disaster affected communities across the Healthy North Coast footprint.
Workforce Locum support and R&R funding criteria
Wellbeing Flexible Funding Criteria & Eligibility
| *Team Size (Total staff and contractors) | Funding Available |
| Small (1-5) | $500-$1500 |
| Medium (6-20) | $1500-$4000 |
| Large (>20) | $4000-$5000 |
