Volunteer members from our communities of Houghton, Hermitage, Inglewood & Paracombe have formed a Community Support Hub named ‘HIPERS’ (Houghton, Hermitage, Inglewood and Paracombe Emergency Recovery Support).

HIPERS has emerged from the devastating bushfires in Cudlee Creek, Pinery and Sampson Flat along with a series of “Redi-communities” workshops conducted by the Australian Red Cross.

The Community Support Hub project is supported by the Adelaide Hills Council’s Community Resilience initiative.

Our aim of the Community Support Hub will be to develop our capacity to:

• Provide a centre of support for affected members of the community for possibly up to 72 hours immediately following a disaster such as a bushfire or storm, and any associated power, water, transport and communications outages
• Where possible, to help bridge gaps between the time the immediate danger has passed until the time that outside recovery services can establish support
• Provide a centre of support for affected community members, which could possibly include providing food and shelter, first aid, clean drinking  water, blankets, toilets and shower and electricity
• It may be other simple things like just having someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on.
• Where possible, we may also be able to assist in locating support services.

It is very important to note that this is not a service provided during a catastrophic event. Before and during an event, the community should always follow their own personal bushfire plan for either leaving or sheltering.

If you wish further information about HIPERS and our activities, please email to hihmpark.HIPERS@gmail.com