Production has started on Road To Recovery With Scott Pape, a one hour special following the Barefoot Investor as he joins the bushfire recovery effort to help people who have lost everything start to rebuild their lives from scratch.
Produced by Foxtel, this one-hour documentary – premiering on Wednesday, March 11 at 8.30pm – seeks to make sense of the most horrific of natural disasters and provide an insightful story of hope and resilience with a practical message.
A bushfire survivor himself, and this country’s best-selling ‘money guy’, Pape is uniquely placed to help Aussies on the ground, and has been deployed as a financial counsellor in the frontline of the recovery effort.
Pape said: “Financial counsellors help put people back in control of their money, which is an essential part of the road to recovery for bushfire survivors. Many are traumatised and grief-stricken and yet we expect them to make the most critical of decisions, which can affect the rest of their lives. What they need is a financial counsellor, who is independent of the banks and insurers, and works with the community to help get them back on their feet – and back in control.
“It’s been a challenging but rewarding journey to be on. It gives meaning and purpose to what I’ve been through to have the privilege of helping people through this bushfire crisis.”
Travelling to the bushfire ravaged towns of Corryong and Cudgewa in Victoria, Pape meets with the extraordinary locals, leaders and mentors who are right in the thick of the recovery effort and keen to feel practical support from the wider community.
Throughout the special, viewers will also bear witness to Pape’s personal story of loss in Romsey, Victoria, where his family home was reduced to ash; hear from local heroes who have rallied to get their communities back on track; and go back in time to understand what it takes to travel the long hard road – from day one after the inferno, to weeks, months and years down the track of repair.
Lifestyle general manager Wendy Moore said: “Knowing how to truly help people in the recovery process after a traumatic time like this only comes when you have an opportunity to take the time to listen to what they actually need. This is a powerful documentary that gives the communities and the people within them a voice, and allows them to tell their own story and at the same time regain some control over their future.”
All proceeds from advertising and sponsorship packages during the broadcast of the special will be donated to Anglicare Victoria Financial Counselling, to assist with their specialist Bushfire Recovery Financial Counselling Program.