Grants of up to $150,000 are available to community and not-for-profit organisations to deliver activities and programs to support the wellbeing of children and young people in the Northern Rivers impacted by the 2022 floods. 

The not-for-profit organisation Social Futures has grants, ranging from $75,000 to $150,000 to allocate. The grants are available under the Youth Participation fund and are part of the new Resilient Kids program, a $10-million initiative to support the capacity and resilience for young people aged eight to 18 years impacted by the 2022 flooding in the Northern Rivers. 

Social Futures wants to hear from organisations running youth programs or activities for young people living in the Northern Rivers. We are particularly interested in organisations who run programs for the following priority groups:  

• Children and young people with disability with a focus on neurodivergent young people and young people with intellectual or cognitive disability 
• Children and young people disengaged from school or education. 
•  Non-binary and transgender children and young people. 

Social Futures General Manager of Mental Health and Wellbeing Simone Silberberg said Social Futures was looking forward to seeing exciting and innovative proposals. 

“We know that almost two years after the 2022 floods we are still facing challenges and mental health and wellbeing needs are still present for people,” Ms Silberberg said. 

“These grants are intended to support programs and activities which build social connection, community resilience and youth leadership skills, particularly in relation to disaster recovery and preparedness.” 

“When applying for the grant, you will have to outline your organisation’s experience in running similar programs and how your programs can be adapted for the priority groups” she said. 

“And we want to know about the positive outcomes for youth you’ve achieved in the past.” Ms Silberberg said schools and for-profit organisations were ineligible to apply and the grants were not for organisations offering psychological support, counselling or brief interventions. The applicants must also be Northern Rivers based. 

An evaluation panel will be set up to decide which applicants will be awarded grants. 

The panel will be made up of representatives from: 

• Social Futures
• Healthy North Coast
• People with lived experience in the priority areas
• Young people affected by the 2022 floods
• Youth services

Resilient Kids is funded by Healthy North Coast through a grant provided by the Australian Government.