From the Chairman of the Board
We know it has taken “a while”, but it’s starting to happen at last! Anam Cara House is off and running.
You may have read the article in the “Geelong Advertiser” a few weeks ago about one of the early families to use our “Carer’s Hospitality” rooms on the upper floor of ACH. Lyn, wife of Rob and mother of four teenagers, was in the Geelong Hospital, and the family from Western Victoria found Anam Cara House to be a true “home away from home”. They were most enthusiastic about how much it lightened their load of care and anxiety for Lyn.
Gradually the upper floor facilities are becoming better known and more widely used as we get “in gear” with each passing week.
The next step, and a major one at that, will be the commencement of the “Day Hospice”, as of Tuesday August 5. This will enable carers to have a free day while their loved ones enjoy the hospitality of Anam Cara, complete with complementary therapies which will help them in a variety of ways to manage better the health challenges they are facing. Day hospices operate in several locations in Australia, and have proved to be both popular with guests and extremely supportive for their carers. “Anam Cara House” aims to be the best of the bunch!
The ultimate goal of overnight stay for guests, enabling carers to have a longer break is gradually coming into focus, as the required certification and eventually accreditation criteria become more clear.
The Board is grateful for the continuing active generosity – and patience – of all Anam Cara House members. Laurel Ling brings her skills and personal warmth as Acting Manager for Carers’ Hospitality and the Day Hospice. Combined with the ongoing dedication of our office staff, Board and volunteers, founder and director Diane Wright’s dream of “Anam Cara House” is to become the wonderful reality that has been the goal of us all.
-Leigh Dicker
Chairman
Anam Cara House Board of Directors