*Sr Noelene Quinane RSJ at MacKillop House in Canberra. PHOTO: ABC News/Greg Nelson.*

Fifty years ago, Josephite Sister Noelene Quinane walked the halls of MacKillop House in Canberra's inner north as a young nun. Now, she is back there, accompanying women teetering on the edge of the poverty line, ABC News reports.

Many have been displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sr Noelene has returned to make them chilli and cheese scones, using her late mum's spatula.

"For some strange reason I've become known as the scone lady," she laughed.

"I enjoy making them. If it gives pleasure to people, that's a gift. A gift both ways."

Sister Noelene travelled abroad to teach and act as a principal — as well as a stint at the Smokey Mountain landfill site in the Philippines — before word of the shelter called her back home.

"When this possibility of housing COVID homeless women became a reality with the support of the government funding, it just lifted my heart," she said.

"It's giving them their dignity, it's giving them hope, and that's what this place has been about for the whole 50 years. It's almost like a full circle."

The shelter, operated by CatholicCare Canberra and Goulburn, opened just in time for Canberra's bitterly cold winter — and it is one of the ACT's only spaces designed to house women.

Fast-tracked by an injection of money from the ACT Government, MacKillop House is part of the $3 million emergency housing response to COVID-19.

It has beds for up to 26 homeless women, including those with children, and following the initial six-month trial, that could be expanded to 38 beds.

"Homelessness can happen to anyone, and that's really been highlighted with this pandemic and the economic crisis that's followed," CatholicCare CEO Anne Kirwan said.

"Women might come to the service because they've suffered financial hardship, mental health issues, or drug and alcohol issues."

Because the convent is well-known locally, it is not the best place to cater for victims of domestic violence, who need to remain anonymous.

Instead, the most likely candidates are the growing population of women over 50 affected by homelessness, and they can stay at the convent for up to a year.

This is an abridged version of an ABC News article by Holly Tregenza. Read the full article here.