Supporting with Mental wellbeing after an extreme weather event
The recent extreme weather events have hit us hard across the country. Even if you aren’t directly impacted, watching the news and seeing the scenes across the TV and social media is heart-breaking.
On the 27 January 2023 I was one of those affected people. The day started off like any other, seeing the kids off to school and starting the working day. But by that evening parts of my house were flooded, and my car was submerged.
I am one of the lucky ones. I am not red or yellow stickered. I can still come home and despite not having a car and a the damage to my house, we can adjust.
However, the biggest adjustment has been adapting to the feelings of anxiety and stress when it starts to rain. Wondering if the house will flood again and if we need to evacuate. We are not alone. There have been hundreds of thousands impacted this last month and the challenge is not over yet.
As a leader, a colleague, a friend, or a business owner, there are ways you can help. Below are some ideas of how you can support those who have been impacted.
1. Reach out
Check in with the individual every few days. Hear what they have to say and if possible offer help where you can. For some people they may not even know where to start but having an ear to listen will go a long way to help them feel they’re not alone. If you can, provide them the time to clean up through sick leave or some paid leave. There are a lot of costs for the impacted person to face and not having to worry about a drop in wages will be one less worry.
2. Send a food package
Help someone with the gift of time. If they are having to spend days cleaning up, send them some pre made meals that will save them a lot of time at the end of the day not having to cook. I was very fortunate to have received these and it made the world of difference at the end of a long day.
3. Support services
There are many support services that are available to help someone through situations like these. Organisations like victim support, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and Community Support hubs. Share information with the individual so they know who they can turn to for help.
4. Organise a working bee
If you are close to the individual, then help organise a working bee to help with the clean-up. Get a group together with the required tools (spades, brushes, rubbish bags etc) and help the individual to clean up for a day. Or you could help them document all items for insurance claims bytaking photos and writing them all down. As the saying goes, many hands make light work, and it goes a really long way in helping the person move forward from the event.
5. Provide the solution
When you are impacted by an event, sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. Having friends and colleagues provide me with a solution (or in some cases making a decision for me) just gave me one less thing to have to think about. It helped reduce the mental toll that was occurring and allowed me to focus on something else.
Our hearts go out to those across the country that have been severely impacted by the recent events. As a small business we wanted to help where we can and have made a donation to the Red Cross and Mayoral Relief Funds. If you wish to donate please find the link here.
Kia Kaha New Zealand.
