Dozens of new beds have been put in a vacant aged care home owned by Not For Profit provider Uniting NSW/ACT in Sydney, which will become temporary accommodation for older women in need of safe shelter.
The transformed site will provide temporary accommodation to older women who need a safe place to sleep while it awaits approval to develop a brand new aged care facility.
“At Uniting we don’t let an empty building go to waste. With the planning process for the redevelopment of this aged care facility likely to take a couple of years, it is a great opportunity to support a particularly disadvantaged, marginalised and growing cohort,” said Simon Furness, Director of Property & Housing at Uniting NSW/ACT.
It is the second time that Uniting NSW/ACT has used a decommissioned aged care building as a temporary shelter for women in need. The first time was in 2018.
Louise Sharp, a volunteer for RizeUp, a community group that uses social media to source donated goods to set up homes for victims of domestic violence, said the issue of domestic violence ïs “bigger than you imagine”.
“They’re going to be coming from a scary dangerous situation in their own home, into somewhere where they can feel safe,” Ms Sharp said.
No praise is high enough for Uniting and the volunteers who have given their time to make this shelter happen.
