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The Community Leader Awards
2015
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A shared commitment to community
COMMITMENT to community and serving those most in
need are the core values of one of Australia’s leading Catholic
aged-care providers.
St Vincent’s Care Services delivers exceptional care and support
through its residential aged care, in-home community living and
independent-living services in south-east Queensland, New South
Wales and Victoria.
As part of St Vincent’s Health Australia – the nation’s largest Cath-
olic health and aged-care provider – St Vincent’s Care Services is
especially committed to those in the community who are poor or
vulnerable, in line with their mission of bringing God’s love to those
in need through the healing ministry of Jesus.
In order to deliver on this mission, St Vincent’s Care Services has
launched a number of initiatives to provide support to vulnerable
members of the community.
Local charity initiatives
The spirit of charity and compassion is evident at all St Vincent’s
Care Services facilities, with staff, residents, volunteers and families
regularly banding together to support a range of charitable groups
and projects.
At St Vincent’s Care Services Kangaroo Point, a small but dedicated
group of residents have formed a fundraising committee, and regu-
larly hold events and campaigns to raise money for charities selected
by the committee.
The community at St Vincent’s Care Services Mitchelton has spent
this year donating goods to 100 Women MAD (Making a Differ-
ence).
The group collects and distributes packs of personal care items to
homeless women and girls in Brisbane. A number of residents have
also donated hand-woven scarves made during their leisure activi-
ties.
Clergy health
As a Catholic organisation, St Vincent’s Care Services recognises
the commitment and drive of members of the Catholic clergy and
men and women religious who wish to continue to serve following
their retirement.
St Vincent’s Care Services provides aged-care facilities and services
to support the health and lifestyle requirements of those who have
dedicated their life to the Catholic faith.
Social justice through health
The St Vincent’s Health Australia Social Justice Through Health
Strategy aims to raise community and stakeholder awareness and
support to address health inequities in our society.
The population groups supported through this strategy are Ab-
original and Torres Strait Islander people, people who experience
chronic homelessness, and asylum seekers in the community.
The strategy seeks to bring about long-term change for those who
experience complex health and social vulnerabilities, through im-
proving access to health services, assisting with and contributing to
research projects, advocating for change in health and social policy,
and building capabilities in targeted social groups to assist them in
improving their own health and wellbeing.
Eltham refugee housing project
In 2016, St Vincent’s Care Services partnered with CatholicCare
to help settle humanitarian entrants fleeing conflicts in Syria and
Iraq. St Vincent’s Health Australia committed funds to refurbish 60
unused units on the site of St Vincent’s Care Services, Eltham, in
Melbourne, and provided them as medium-term rental accommo-
dation to newly arrived refugees.
This project has enabled newly arrived refugees to establish a rent-
al history while they are supported to access schools, training, em-
ployment and ongoing accommodation in the private rental market.
In October 2018, the units will transition to affordable housing for
financially disadvantaged elderly members of the local community,
in particular women who are at risk of homelessness.
St Vincent’s is committed to supporting and improving the lives
of those in need and recognises the importance in acknowledging
those who contribute to and serve the wider Australian community.
St Vincent’s Care Services is delighted to be a proud sponsor of
The Community Leader Awards 2017, and congratulates the Cath-
olic individuals, schools, organisations and religious orders that are
being recognised for their ongoing commitment to making a differ-
ence to their community.
Helping:
St Vincent’s is committed to supporting and improving the lives of
those in need and recognises the importance in acknowledging those who
contribute to and serve the wider Australian community.