Latrobe City Council, Victoria, is continuing to help residents and businesses recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council established a Helpline team during the pandemic to provide food, face masks and information to the public about supports available, in a bid to ease the many pressures they were facing.
While the Helpline formally ended last year on 17 November, the public can still phone Council and receive assistance with COVID-19 related matters.
Mayor, Sharon Gibson, said, “While Council is better known for looking after roads, rubbish and libraries, we also have staff dedicated to caring for the community.”
A major task for the team during COVID-19 was
packing and distributing 9000 masks through some 30 organisations to people who asked for help.
The Helpline team also provided food for vulnerable people with assistance from emergency relief providers.
Team members provided information, advice and interpretation of the restrictions, and provided the public with links to emergency relief services.
For some people, the Helpline provided a sense of social connection during long periods of isolation.
Community groups were given access to training sessions covering new ways of operating, grants available and risk management and received phone calls from the Helpline team to discuss how COVID-19 was affecting them.
Many people expressed concern about the future in relation to their health and wellbeing, education, employment and income.
The Helpline received 477 inbound calls from community members and businesses between 11 May and 17 November 2020.
Council will undertake further survey work over the coming months to monitor and identify changes in the impact of COVID-19 on the community to assist recovery planning and community support.
