Brisbane’s Sisters of Mercy have donated a four-bedroom house to Centacare to shelter women experiencing homelessness in Beaudesert, reports The Catholic Leader.
Congregation leader Sr Peta Goldburg and councillor Sr Patricia Kirchner signed the home over to the care of Centacare executive director Peter Selwood and Centacare services and practice governance director Deborah Clark earlier this month.
Signing the deeds: Front Row - Sr Patricia Kirchner RSM and Congregational Leader Sr Peta Goldburg RSM with Centacare Brisbane’s practice governance director Deborah Clark and executive director Peter Selwood looking on. PHOTO Joe Higgins/Catholic Leader.
Sr Patricia said the sisters had thought about what to do with the home when it became available and instead of selling it and donating the money, they wanted to see it put to good use.
She said they chose Centacare because the organisation already had “runs on the board” in the area of homelessness relief and felt comfortable placing it in their hands.
Sr Peta said the Mercy Sisters and their founder Catherine McAuley had a long history of helping women and girls.
“While we (the Mercies) also moved into education and healthcare, it was all to do with women and children and enabling people to move to a better space in life,” she said.
She said by donating the house for women experiencing homelessness, they hoped to carry on that charism, especially for regional women who, because of their location, had fewer services available to them.
“The need is huge in the city,” she said, “and maybe more attention gets paid to the city, but smaller places like Beaudesert also have a lot of women who need assistance.”
Mr Selwood said he was grateful to the Mercy Sisters, not only for the house but also for their trust.
He said Centacare had a long history caring for people experiencing homelessness and the donation was a vote of confidence in their ministry.
He said Centacare did everything they could to help people “get back on their feet” and create pathways to employment.
He said helping people find a house and helping them find employment went “hand in hand”.
“A job can help you find your own housing, even though that’s increasingly difficult, and housing can help you find a job,” he said.
Ms Clark said Centacare operated other houses on the northside of Brisbane, which had seen positive outcomes.
“We’ve set up very strong programs… they’ve been very successful,” she said.
She said they hoped to repeat the same success for those who stay in the house in Beaudesert.
This article by Joe Higgins was published in The Catholic Leader.