Good Afternoon Everyone,
I hope you are well.
It is hard to believe the school holiday is pretty much over and children are going back to school this week. The House also starts Term 1, 2019 from today. Although most of our classes and activities kept going during the holiday period, Yoga will be back this week with the normal of two classes on Wednesday morning and Childcare and Playgroup will start back next week on Wednesday and Thursday.Visit the event calendar for a full list of this week’s events.
Update – Support for Tasmanians displaced by bushfires
Emergency Assistance Grant
* Updated: 10:30am Monday 4 February *
Emergency Assistance Grant to support people displaced by the bushfires in Huon Valley are available at the following locations.
- HUONVILLE: Baden Powell Scout and Guide Hall (near the Huonville Evacuation Centre at the PCYC), from 9am
- HOBART: Service Tasmania, 134 Macquarie Street, 9am-5pm
- DOVER: Esperance Multipurpose Centre, 15 Chapman Avenue, 10.30am-3pm
- GEEVESTON: Community Hall, 5 Brady Street, 10.30am-3pm
With the release of a second round of the Emergency Assistance Grant, aid of up to $2,000 per family – $500 per adult and $250 per child – is now available for people to assist with buying clothing, food, transport, shelter and personal items.
People who have already received the first round of funding, which was up to $1,000 per family, are eligible to come back for a second payment of up to $1,000. If you did not receive a grant in the first round, you will be able to receive two grants – up to $1,000 each – at the same time.
There are also Recovery and Restoration grants available. Please refer to TAS ALERT Disaster Assistance page http://alert.tas.gov.au/resources/Pages/DisasterAssistance.aspx for further information.
Income support for those affected by Tasmanian bushfires
Disaster Recovery Allowance will be made available by the Commonwealth Government to assist Tasmanians who have suffered financial loss as a direct result of the bushfires.
The Allowance will provide short-term income support to assist employees, sole traders and farmers who can demonstrate that their income has been affected, and will be payable for up to 13 weeks from the date of impact. This is in addition to financial support already being provided to Tasmanians under the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, including Emergency Assistance Grants, Restoration and Recovery Grants and Transport Subsidies.
To lodge a claim, contact the Department of Human Services on 180 22 66 or visit www.humanservices.gov.au/disaster
Congratulations NILS, Congratulations Linda!
Kingston Neighbourhood House is a delivery partner of NILS Loans Tasmania. NILS receives the government funding to offer ‘No interest loans’ to Tasmanians with low incomes to support their everyday living.
NILS recently marked 20,000 Loans and they will hold a morning tea to celebrate this milestone and share it with their loans partners on Friday, 15 February. As part of the celebration, NILS will be acknowledging the wonderful work of a number of their loans officers by presenting them with ‘Distinguished Service Awards’. This is a special award previously made to only 20 of our (more than 250) loans officers and our NILS volunteer, Linda Hill receives this award. Wow, congratulations Linda!!
A NILS ‘Distinguished Service Award’ is presented based on:
- Length of involvement as a NILS loans officer.
- Quality of applications and financial conversations.
- Volume of applications supported.
Our highly experienced NILS loan volunteers, Drew and Linda will take appointments of NILS loan applications on Tuesdays and Thursdays. NILS loans lend up to $1500 for a general loan and covers variety of living costs from purchase of furniture, electric appliance, car repair, Car registration fee, dental cost to ‘back-to-school’ cost.
As always, please feel free to contact us to suggest ideas, raise any issues or discuss concerns – our community values your feedback.
David will be back in the office on Tuesday, 12 February and this is my final ‘Weekly Update’. Thanks everyone.