Funding will come to Hawke’s Bay as two types of grants.
The Community Support Grant is for the costs being incurred by those supporting the basic needs of those impacted, for example, providing people with temporary accommodation, food or water, or supporting community clean-ups. These applications can be made for between $5000 and $50,000.
The Community Enable Grant is for the costs being incurred by those providing financial support, resources or assets to enable communities to recover more quickly from the effects of the cyclone. This includes supporting community-wide temporary access to water, telecommunications equipment such as satellite phones, and other community-wide recovery or connection activities. These applications can be made for $50,000 and over.
Both grants are not available to individuals or households.
Hawke’s Bay residents have in recent weeks become increasingly disgruntled at the pace at which the Red Cross has been operating.
Chloe Johnson, the volunteer co-ordinator behind the Cyclone Hawke’s Bay Help page, said while the opening of applications was a “step in the right direction,” there were still further issues and questions about the funding and how it will be allocated.
“Being open to community groups only, who then ensures that those groups will use [funding] where it’s really needed and that it’s actually going to get to the victims?,” she said.
“It just seems like another hoop that the victims and people who have lost their homes have to jump through to get help again.
“It’s a real positive [funding] is being released and we have some more transparency now. There are still quite a few questions that people have.”
Johnson also pointed out that the earliest the Red Cross would make a decision on the first round of funding for the Community Enable Grant would be May, according to its website.
“That’s almost three months on from the cyclone and that’s really too slow. The immediate need was several weeks ago, and knowing millions of dollars has been sitting in these funds when people have been doing this back-breaking work funded by themselves is quite heartbreaking.”
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazelhurst said the council was working closely with Red Cross to make sure the money gets to areas that needed it the most.
“With regards to Red Cross funding, our community’s needs have changed from the initial response. We are working with Red Cross management to give them guidance on what the needs are and identify the best way to allocate funding. It could be administered in the same way the Hawke’s Bay Disaster Relief Fund Trust is.
“We have been hearing from the community that this funding would be much appreciated now and we are having the conversations with Red Crossto help them understand the community’s needs and the best way to support them.”
Red Cross NZ says there will not be a set percentage of funds that will be allocated to any one activity or location.
Recently, there has also been speculation that the Red Cross NZ branch was in debt, and that money from the Disaster Relief Fund was contributing to the business aspects and operating costs of the organisation.
Red Cross NZ confirmed that as of 2023, its operations were not in debt and its financial position had no impact on the fund, as it was classed as a special and separate appeal.
When talking about the speed of the allocation of funds, NZ Red Cross general manager Shane Chisholm told Newsroom a range of factors contributed to the rollout of funding and aid.
“What we have learned in the past is, the best way to engage and support a community to recover is to allow that community to lead,” he said.
“People may see that as taking longer than ideal, but it’s really important that we take the time to ensure we are making the most of the resources that we have.”
A $1.1m contribution to the Wairoa District Council-led Liveable Homes Fund was announced last week.
