A mix of adversity and opportunity has been true of the impact of COVID19 on Larrakia Nation in 2020. It’s been a tough year, as we have had to adapt to keep our clients, staff and families safe, but as an organisation that specialises in connecting to people at a grass roots level, limiting contact and continuing business is more or less a contradiction in terms. Even though this year has been challenging, frustrating and slow going for everyone at all levels of the organisation our Board, Chairman and CEO commend everyone for the way they have remained flexible and adaptable.
We still have very real concerns about how quickly the virus will spread through vulnerable populations if community transmission comes to the NT and how vulnerable many of our clients are. It has been stressful dealing with predictions of high death rates among Aboriginal people if COVID makes its way into the NT and we continue to look at ways we can battle the virus and its impacts.
But as the old saying goes from adversity comes opportunity. Larrakia Nation has been able to access COVID19 funding, and we are working hard to set the wheels in motion to enable us to better help our clients. Through direct funding from the Commonwealth Government we have been able:
- Increase our vehicle fleet to help with safe client transport
- Purchase more personal safety equipment to keep our staff and our clients safe
- Provide increased training to staff in safe community service delivery
- Develop new information systems so we can provide better responses to the needs of our stakeholders
As we brace ourselves for the second wave of COVID19 Larrakia Nation will continue to work hard to protect our people and our community, and we ask that people stay safe, follow the rules of contact and look after each other.