Case Study: Creative Resilience Workshops for Disaster Recovery
When a natural disaster hits, the immediate impacts are visible: damaged homes, closed roads, disrupted businesses, lost income, cancelled work and communities trying to respond as quickly as they can.
But the longer-term impacts are often quieter.
They can show up months or years later as stress, exhaustion, financial pressure, uncertainty, grief, burnout and social disconnection. For regional communities, where support services can be harder to access and people are often supporting one another while also carrying their own recovery load, the need for practical wellbeing support is ongoing.
With support from NAB Foundation, Hey Mate delivered the Creative Resilience Wellbeing Workshops for Disaster Recovery across the Mid North Coast to Northern Rivers region.
The project was designed to support communities affected by natural disasters with practical tools for mental health, wellbeing, financial resilience, disaster recovery and peer connection.
Across five workshops in Byron Bay, Lismore, Yamba, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, Hey Mate reached 95 participants.
The challenge: recovery does not end when the emergency ends
Communities across the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers have experienced the ongoing impacts of flooding, severe weather events and climate-related disruption.
While emergency response and infrastructure recovery are essential, disaster recovery also has a human side. People need opportunities to reconnect, process what has happened, learn practical strategies, and feel supported as they navigate the emotional and financial realities of recovery.
For creative workers, small business owners, volunteers, local residents and community leaders, these pressures can be especially complex. Many people are not only recovering personally, but also supporting their communities, workplaces, families and networks.
Hey Mate saw a need for trauma-informed, accessible and practical wellbeing support that could meet people in their local communities and provide tools they could continue to use beyond the workshop setting.
The response: practical, place-based wellbeing support
The Creative Resilience Wellbeing Workshops were developed to create safe, grounded and practical spaces for disaster-affected communities.
The workshops supported participants to explore:
mental health and emotional wellbeing;
stress, burnout and recovery fatigue;
financial resilience and recovery planning;
disaster preparedness and coping strategies;
peer support and social connection;
self-care and sustainable recovery practices;
community resilience and shared learning.
Rather than focusing only on individual coping, the workshops recognised that recovery is relational. People need tools, but they also need connection, conversation and the reminder that they are not navigating recovery alone.
Each workshop created space for participants to reflect on their own wellbeing, learn practical strategies and connect with others in their region.
The delivery: five workshops across the region
The project delivered five Creative Resilience Wellbeing Workshops across the Mid North Coast to Northern Rivers region.
Workshops were held in:
LocationDateParticipantsByron BayAugust 202520LismoreSeptember 202520YambaOctober 202520Coffs HarbourApril 202615BellingenApril 202620Total95
This spread of locations was important. While the project was initially focused on the Northern Rivers, delivery expanded to include the Mid North Coast as well. This allowed Hey Mate to respond to shared recovery needs across a broader regional footprint and reach communities that may otherwise have had fewer opportunities to access this type of support.
Working with local partners
A key part of the project was working with local organisations, including Regional Arts Development Offices and regional arts and community networks.
These partnerships helped support community engagement, local outreach and place-based delivery. They also helped ensure the workshops were relevant to the needs of each location, rather than using a one-size-fits-all model.
Local partnerships are especially important in disaster recovery work. Communities know their own needs, strengths and challenges. By working alongside local networks, Hey Mate was able to deliver support that was more grounded, accessible and responsive.
As Skye Petho, Programs and Partnerships Manager at Arts Mid North Coast, shared:
“Thank you for the workshop, it is much needed for our community.”
The impact: practical tools, connection and confidence
The project supported 95 people across five regional communities.
Participants included creative workers, local residents, small business owners, volunteers, community leaders and others experiencing the ongoing impacts of natural disasters, including stress, financial pressure, social isolation and recovery fatigue.
Through the workshops, participants had access to practical strategies and resources to support mental health, resilience, financial wellbeing, recovery planning, self-care and peer connection.
The project achieved several key outcomes:
increased access to mental health, wellbeing and disaster recovery support;
stronger understanding of stress, burnout, recovery fatigue and emotional wellbeing;
practical tools for financial resilience and recovery planning;
increased opportunities for peer learning and social reconnection;
provision of ongoing wellbeing and recovery resources;
strengthened relationships with regional partners and local community networks;
improved access to place-based wellbeing support across the Mid North Coast to Northern Rivers.
Feedback and facilitator reflections indicated that the workshops created safe, practical and relevant spaces for participants to talk about wellbeing, recovery, stress, financial pressure and community resilience.
What we learned
One of the strongest learnings from this project was the importance of balancing place-based delivery with broader regional reach.
If support is concentrated too heavily in one location, smaller and more dispersed communities can miss out. By delivering across Byron Bay, Lismore, Yamba, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, Hey Mate was able to reach a wider group of people and better reflect the shared recovery needs across the region.
This learning will shape future regional programs. Moving forward, Hey Mate will continue to design projects with a clearer spread of locations from the beginning, while working closely with local partners to identify where support is most needed.
The project also reinforced the importance of flexible delivery. Disaster recovery work needs to respond to community availability, local conditions, transport barriers, partner capacity and the emotional readiness of participants. Flexibility helps ensure the support is genuinely accessible, rather than simply delivered.
Why this work matters
Disaster recovery is not only about rebuilding places. It is also about supporting people.
It is about helping communities rebuild confidence, connection, trust, safety and resilience. It is about recognising that stress, financial pressure, grief and exhaustion are real parts of recovery. And it is about creating spaces where people can access support without stigma, pressure or overwhelm.
The Creative Resilience Wellbeing Workshops demonstrated the value of accessible, trauma-informed and community-centred wellbeing support in regional communities.
For Hey Mate, this project strengthened our commitment to regional wellbeing, creative resilience and disaster recovery support. It also showed how practical mental health and resilience programs can play an important role in long-term recovery, especially when delivered in partnership with local communities.
Hey Mate sincerely thanks NAB Foundation for supporting the Creative Resilience Wellbeing Workshops for Disaster Recovery.
This support enabled us to deliver practical, place-based wellbeing and recovery support across Byron Bay, Lismore, Yamba, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, reaching 95 people across the Mid North Coast to Northern Rivers region.
We also thank the local partners, participants and community members who helped bring the workshops to life.
As communities continue to navigate the long tail of natural disasters, Hey Mate remains committed to creating practical, compassionate and community-centred spaces for recovery, connection and resilience.
