A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the Northern Illawarra community

We, the Team at Dignam, like many Australians felt helpless by the devastation wreaked in the past few weeks by the bushfires.

So much so, that we felt compelled to offer support to those affected by acting as a ‘drop off point’ for donations that could be delivered to those who have lost their homes, their businesses, their livelihoods and in some cases – their loved ones.

During the first few weeks of 2020 the Team collected and transported 58 boxes of goods, filled with critical items including nonperishable foods, basic medical items, personal hygiene items, and pet food as well as 720 litres of water.

The boxes were also sent with handwritten notes from our community to let our South Coast neighbours know we are thinking of them and that we are here for them in their hour of need.  

Here at Dignam, we don’t just sell houses. Our real job is to connect and understand the people of our area and what their homes mean to them.

When we work with sellers, we know they are not just selling bricks and mortar – but that they are letting go of the life you had led in order to create a new one.

This isn’t always an easy process. So many times, we have seen people struggle as they let go of their homes.

So many memories and so much blood, sweat and tears have gone into the building and creating of that home – it’s understandable that letting all that go to someone else can be difficult.

That’s where we come in – we try to help our clients transition and move through their changes with the least amount of stress.

Similarly, when we help people buy a house – we are not helping them just buy a building to live in, but buy a future – for their family, for themselves.

We are assisting them in moving forward and we recognise this can also be difficult.

Sometimes buying a new home means your ‘old’ life is no longer. Divorce, death, lost jobs…these are some reasons for having to buy a new home and we understand that so again – our job is to try and make that task easy and – where possible – joyful.

We don’t just sell houses. We help people move on and rebuild their lives.

Which is why our hearts are heavy as we watch so many homes be decimated in a raging, angry fire.

We understand the emotional toll that this takes on the owners of those homes.

We understand how great that loss is and will continue to be to their families.

Our decision to collect and drop off goods was driven by our sympathy for those people.

We hope that everyone who has lost in the bushfires will get the emotional support they need as well as the practical and financial support and we will continue to monitor the situation closely in order to help wherever we can.

We’d also like to send a heartfelt thanks to the absolute champions in our community for all the donations and help you gave to us when we sent out the call.

We love living in the Northern Illawarra and are constantly in awe of you and how you rally like a life-force in itself when needed. There was no hesitation to help out your fellow South Coasters in need when asked and we are proud to call you our friends, neighbours and community.

Thank you. You are all – in our eyes – bloody legends.