I hope that you have escaped the earthquake damage that many of our fellow citizens have experienced. At the City Mission we are doing all that we can to help those badly affected by this act of nature.
Clearly this disruption has consumed most of our energy over the last few weeks. On the morning it struck I visited the Night Shelter and Thorpe House at 5:30 a.m. to see how staff and clients were getting on. On a superficial look there did not seem much damage. I was then given a very large quantity of bread from “Breads of Europe” and spent the rest of the day with my wife taking this around the hard hit areas and offering it to those affected by the quake. I also arranged for some to go the Anglican Aged Care and to the Community of the Sacred Name. The rest we took to the Civil Emergency Centres. The priority was then to ensure that all our staff were well and so I started the telephone tree to have them all contacted. The priority was then to ensure that all our buildings were safe to be in. Brian and Colin were very generous with their time and did an inspection and then Bill Hopkins also carried out an engineer’s inspection for us. A big thanks is due to them. I decided that for the next two days we will deal with emergencies. Some staff could not come in but by the end of the first week everyone was back again and hard at work. I have offered counselling to any staff who feel the need for this and Relationship Services will provide this for no cost.
Over time I have kept staff informed of any advice that has come my way both for themselves and for their clients. The City Mission owned buildings are all intact. The rented shop at Colombo Street was not so lucky and may have to be demolished. We are not sure if we will be able to rescue any stock or we may have to write it off. Our archives are also there and may not be able to be retrieved. The vicarage at Governors Bay will also need repair due to chimney damage. At Thorpe House a chimney had to be taken down to ensure safety but apart from that there does not appear to be any damage apart from a laptop computer which fell and broke. The Foodbank is working in cooperation with the Methodist Mission Foodbank as their premises are unsafe and may have to be demolished. We have been given a great deal of damaged goods and this has placed a strain on our storage capacity and person power but we have accepted everything offered. The number of food parcels we have given out has about doubled. We have scaled back the numbers at Thorpe House until some work can be done to ensure complete safety for staff and clients. All the other services are operating but it is not quite work as usual for staff members are expected to help out where there is a need even if it is outside their usual sphere of work. It is my view that our work is only just beginning. I think the quake will bring about redundancies and business failure which in turn will place a demand on our services. People are still caught up in the adrenaline of the event but this will soon go and depression, overcrowding, depression and stress will set in. All in all we have managed well. The staff have been hard working and committed, the volunteers have worked over and above what could have been expected and the community are supportive as we continue to help those in need.