The Community that Connects Together Survives Together

by Lisa Jarvis

“You might have to cancel the festival, have you heard about the virus?”

These words were spoken to me in mid-February and my reaction was kind of a puzzled look at the questioner - our annual festival is the major community celebration and solid manifestation of who we are as a community and what matters to us. Some virus seemed of little relevance on this bright morning in the Marsh. Many of our community members had participated in the months leading up to lockdown in our Deans Marsh and District Community Plan consultation, MADCAP. The basis of MADCAP was conversation. Having these conversations within a framework of asset based community development meant we were looking at our strengths. It is no surprise that a key strength and priority was our local community and community connections. First lockdown rocked our world and what sense of normal we had embraced. What did our community need from us to assist them to navigate these times? This emergency was different - community gathers together in crisis so what do you do when you can’t physically gather and you can’t give someone a hug of reassurance? Local food security and providing options for people to gain the essentials without travelling was a first step. Inspired by the work of other local community houses, we established our Little Free Pantry and our local Grow Make Gather group established our Grow Free Cart, local business Gentle Annie Berry Gardens partnered with us to hold a series of distanced community feasts and our local community noticeboard was alive with offers of assistance. These initiatives provided a connection point for people. Meals were collected for elders, gardens harvested to share, and touchstones created.

Phone calls often get lost in the fast world of text messaging and emails, but the phone call has been one of the greatest tools in letting people know we are not far away and equates in this time to a chinwag over the fence or a tap on the shoulder. Our Community Pen Pal initiative involving local kids and elders is a very special illustration of the importance of intergenerational connection. The utter delight of receiving a letter and responding has been evident with

young and elder Pen Pals and special visits to collect letters from the Community Pen Pal letterbox. One young Pen Pal loves to dress up for the special walk to collect her correspondence. A really human need is to share our experiences. The ISO Community Photographic Collage invited community members to share their experiences of isolation by contributing a photo to our online collage - the result demonstrates the heart, soul and resilience of our community. Many of us celebrated milestone birthdays during the time of the pandemic - my gift was the community funding and locals creating two carved timber community lounges for our community gathering space. The best present ever and a symbol of the importance of community connection and creating spaces for that to happen. One of the guiding principles that was articulated from the MADCAP process is that we are a caring and connected community who celebrate and share our unique community spirit. We sure are and we sure do! As we emerge from this time, I am looking forward to continuing the myriad of conversations and actions that keep us connected.