Tiny home is a container of dreams for bushfire victim Gabrielle Laver

After two years in emergency accommodation, hard work and “many helping hands” are allowing this Northern Rivers resident to breath easily again.

After two years living in emergency accommodation in Lismore, a Tabulam resident is building a new home with the help of her new community.

Gabrielle Laver moved to Paddy’s Flat, in the Tabulam area, from South Australia in 2012, to become part of a co-operative and start a new life.

The 6500-acre property (26,304ha) is nested between the border between Kyogle and Tenterfield areas, Ms Laver said.

“I was curious about what would it be like living more remotely but with a solid connection to community, to re-imagine what village life could be,” she said.

“(It was) an attempt to find a different way to experience life, that was less stressful and more holistic.”

26 shareholders are part of a company structure that owns the land.

Ms Laver explained each shareholder had a perpetual lease over 20 acres (8ha) where they can live and build a home, until December 6, 2019.

“The fire that took my home was the Bangala Creek Fire, and it had been burning for about three weeks before it got to our property,” she explained.

“Most of the property was burned. Ten of us lost our homes.

“I lost everything.

“All was left from my property was, ironically, a wood shed full of chopped up wood.

“That’s all that was left.”

The Rural Fire Service said firefighters on the ground were supported by aviation crews at the Bangala Creek fire in 2019.

Ms Laver had been studying in California, USA, for the 12 months prior to the fire.

She arrived back in Australia on December 1, 2019, but she went to visit her parents in South Australia before coming home.

She was there when she received a call from one of her neighbours confirming the property was gone.

After a couple of months in South Australia, she was able to return to the Northern Rivers to begin to clean up the property.

“One of the first things I had to do when I came back was to reach out to the Mental Health Team at Lismore Base Hospital,” she said.

“On the way here I drove through some burnt country.

“That was too raw, and my future was so uncertain, I had a few moments when I didn’t know if it was worth to go on and that frightened me.

“My ex-husband and I had worked so hard to get that place and become debt free.

“We had no mortgage. And it was all gone and it was really overwhelming.”

A Rural Fire Service volunteer at the south east section of the Bangala Creek fire.

Ms Laver said she was in a very different mindset these days.

“I have been so blessed,” she said.

“I had a roof over my head. I’ve had people donate so many things to me. So many helping hands. The government gave us $1000 to get some food on the table.

“I don’t think the government knew how to react to something so big.”

But then the pandemic hit.

“The whole bushfire was pushed to the background,” she said.

Ms Laver met her current partner in America and after hearing of the fire, he agreed to come to Australia and help her with the recovery.

But the pandemic made it impossible for him to travel to Australia until a few weeks ago.

“They closed the borders two days before he was meant to arrive here,” she said.

“When I got back to Lismore, NSW Housing put me in a motel in Lismore for almost three months.

“During that three months they found me a house in Lismore, that was at the worst part of the pandemic, when everyone was in lockdown.

“I’m still living there.

“That was very hard, being a homeowner for 20 years and then being homeless.

“On paper I am homeless, unemployed and almost 50, so I could not get a rental, even though the government was going to pay most of my rent in advance.”

Things turned around when she was gifted a tiny house.

Dr Clare Urqhart, founder and CEO of not-for-profit Container of Dreams.

Based in Northern NSW, Container of Dreams has built a small fleet of tiny homes on wheels to deploy in emergencies and natural disasters.

Container of Dreams founder and CEO, Dr Clare Urquhart, said a grant from the NAB Foundation made it possible for her organisation to continue its important work.

“The tiny home built with this NAB Foundation Community Grant will be given to a woman who is still undergoing extremely tough circumstances and is still homeless,” she said.

“She just wants to be able to return to her land and have a safe place to recover.”

Ms Laver said the tiny house was now ready to fit out the internal area.

“They built the house, all the external parts are done, and the recipients can do whatever they want with the internal part of it,” she said.

“I have been collecting bits and pieces, building materials so I can finish the inside.

“It was amazing to have a tiny house gifted to me, but I am also learning the skills to complete it.”

Ms Laver’s tiny house is located in Drake.

“Eventually, when the rain eases off, I will be able to take my tiny house to my property,” she said.

Local volunteers have helped to build the tiny homes, creating community connection for people impacted by the bushfires.

Ms Laver finds herself within that community she was yearning for before all this happened, and after all this loss, she is surrounded by people who are helping each other.

“My dream was to use the property as a base camp for people to learn community-building skills,” she said.

“I have seen it is possible because I experienced it, but I trust I will get there through these crazy times.”