MEDIA RELEASE - Emergency funds available for locals affected by COVID-19

MEDIA RELEASE

1 May 2020

Emergency funds available for locals affected by COVID-19

More than $16,000 in emergency aid has been provided to residents in Nelson and Tasman who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic through a new programme set up by the Fifeshire Foundation at the beginning of April.

The Fifeshire Foundation has helped local residents in crisis or hardship for more than 25 years with financial support for living expenses. In March, following the swift movement of New Zealand from Level 2 to full lockdown in Level 4, the foundation’s Trustees created an Emergency Programme to provide relief to families that have been affected specifically by the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Support includes money for immediate essential needs: food, firewood, and power.

Chair Don Everitt says the Trustees were prepared to step in quickly, given how difficult the complete lockdown was expected to be for people struggling to cope with financial concerns due to the crisis. Within days, some of the organisation’s long-time donors also raised their hands to help, and donations from first-time donors have also been coming through the door as well.

“We are familiar with helping in a crisis and so the COVID-19 pandemic was something we wanted to gear up for quickly. Not only did our staff prepare an application and a process within days, we have been incredibly blessed to have some of our most dedicated contributors raise their hands to help out.

“We’re so grateful to be able to help our community right now at such a critical time.”

Applicants for the Emergency Programme are required to demonstrate they have been put into hardship or domestic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A streamlined application is available online or on paper. Trustees review the applications at least weekly, if not more frequently, and procedures are in place to quickly provide the assistance in way that meets the Government’s safety restrictions for Levels 4, 3 and so on.

Throughout April, the Foundation set up the Emergency Programme, reviewed the first applications, and distributed aid to 37 approved applicants. New applications arrive daily and if an application doesn’t meet the COVID-19-specific criteria, it will be considered through the Foundation’s normal application process, which is still running on a monthly schedule.

Manager Leanne Churchill initially spread word of the programme through existing relationships and channels, such as social workers, social support, and community agencies across the region as well as MSD, Work and Income, and the DHB.

Don says, “We’ve been a bit busy getting the Emergency Programme underway and in the meantime, new donors to our organisation have found us and have made contributions in addition to our regular supporters, which is really rewarding. We haven’t had to ask people to help out, they’ve done it all on their own, which is really rewarding. We have a tremendously caring community.”

The Emergency Programme application and criteria can be found on the Foundation’s website, www.fifeshirefoundation.co.nz.