‘Here to help u’ is a new local website that is supporting people in need
A huge collaborative effort from several Hamilton-based community service providers, volunteers and funders means that Hamilton residents can now access social service support during COVID-19 at their fingertips thanks to a pioneering community response website ‘heretohelpu.nz‘.
In March, Holly Snape, CE of Community Waikato sent out a kōrero about emergency food services to several organisations who work in the sector. On 23 March 2020, when the New Zealand Government moved the country into Alert Level 4 to stop the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), it was clear that something needed to be set up to meet needs quickly.
Several Hamilton-based community service providers identified there would be a huge demand for wellbeing support and social services during the crisis. The group of providers were united in their mission to provide local people with an easily accessible and quick way to access support and essential supplies. ‘Here to help u’ was swiftly and collaboratively developed to serve the community effectively in challenging times.
‘Here to help u’ is a community initiative developed by Wise Group in partnership with Community Waikato and supported by Hamilton community service providers, volunteers and funders to provide hardship and social service support to locals during COVID-19. Hardship and social service support includes free assistance with food parcels, prepared meals, collection of items service, mental health support, and safe social connection.
To access this support you go to heretohelpu.nz at any time and submit a request for help. A support line staff member will respond to your request.
Due to COVID-19 community providers had to adapt quickly and prepare to meet a high-level of demand on their services. The pressure to deliver was compounded when many providers, that had been part of the community infrastructure that served vulnerable people, were forced to close, or offer reduced services during COVID-19. It was more important than ever before that vulnerable people experiencing hardship had an easy way to request help and get it. At the same time community service providers needed an efficient way to receive and respond to help requests. So, the ‘Here to help u’ website was developed.
Eco-mapping had shown that the organisation’s and groups who normally provided services to those in need were running at a deficit – 85% of operations were either not running or at limited capacity under Alert Level 4. Eco-mapping was done before Civil Defence came into play and initial mapping showed we needed 10,000 meals and 5000 food parcels to meet the need.
‘Here to help u’ was planned as a collaborative initiative to provide the public with a useful tool and be an asset for the hard-working community sector. Wise Group and Houchen Hub Operations Lead Erana Severne says the community collaboration and website development has come together in a phenomenally short timeframe. It was front of mind for the group to get this off the ground fast so that when the social service needs increased during the COVID-19 lockdown and beyond, the right support was available to respond appropriately.
“We’re committed to doing whatever it takes to meet the community’s needs and support the wellbeing of our local people, whānau and communities,” says Erana Severne.
Holly Snape says the heretohelpu.nz website will soon be accompanied by a freephone, with information about this number being available shortly. In the meantime, she says, for those who do not have access to a desktop or mobile device, they can call the Civil Defence emergency helpline (freephone 0800 800 405). For more information or to request help for yourself or someone you know go to www.heretohelpu.nz
Anyone can reach out at any time for help using ‘Here to help u.’ Because it is online it is available 24/7. There are no barriers or conditions to receiving help. Initially ‘Here to help u’ will be launched and trialled in Hamilton.
This website will extend to include the greater Waikato region. To date 2000 meals have been delivered to Tokoroa. And there have been requests from Thames Civil Defence asking for kai for Paeroa and Matamata. So, this system has meant support can also be directed to some of our rural communities.
When in the planning stages of meeting the food needs for the region over this time, there were 2 main issues to consider.
Supply – Do people/organisations have what they need to be able to deliver what they need in terms of food?
Access to care – Can people in need easily request food when needed?
‘Here to help u’ was developed as a solution to the issue of people having access to care. It is a friendly and helpful tool that can be used to access help.
Community Waikato Chief Executive Holly Snape says the ‘Here to help u’ website is a new initiative for the community and provides a safe and easily accessible way for someone who needs support to access it.
To address the issue of supply, to ensure there was enough food supplies for existing agencies to keep delivering what they needed to, Hamilton City Council connected Wise Group with Montana catering. An arrangement was made for Montana to produce frozen meals and pack food parcels out of Claudelands Event Centre. They would take no profits, but just cover their costs. Civil Defence took over the payment of these meals. Claudelands can now produce 1000 food parcels and between 7000 to 9000 frozen meals per week.
Initially Claudelands just produced frozen meals. However, the ability to acquire food was also identified as an issue – supply was a huge issue. Emergency response was needed, and food parcels came into play. It was realised that Claudelands were able to procure at a higher level straight from Auckland, than individual community groups could. Food parcels were a solution to top up community organisations to meet the extremely high need.
These meals and food parcels were then distributed to community groups and agencies who already delivered food to those in need prior to COVID-19. They then take responsibility to distributing to people they have identified as at need.
To date more than 20,000 meals have been prepared through Claudelands, and a further 12,000 are still on the order list as people in our region require help more than ever.