Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care - Because We Care

Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care is a not-for-profit organisation that was founded and sponsored by the Knights of the Southern Cross. Our services are offered on a non-denominational basis to people who require assistance with daily living tasks.

Over 30 years ago, Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care began with just one residential site. Today it has a number of residential care facilities with serviced apartments, a large number of independent-living units and a busy and expanding community care service that cares for people in their own homes.

These services extend through metropolitan and regional Victoria, including the Geelong–Barwon–South West region and Shepparton.

Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care is one of the largest providers of community care packages in Victoria. These packages and our private home-care services enable older people to remain living independently in their own homes, and receive assistance with daily living tasks such as showering, dressing, shopping, cooking and so on.

We endeavour to support individual choices and have always operated with integrity. Our core values of caring, human dignity, empowerment, integrity and quality of service are put into practice every day. It is the embodiment of these values that makes our care so special.

In November 1976, Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care (then known as Southern Cross Homes Inc), with sponsorship and funding from the Geelong Region Knights of the Southern Cross, built 20 independent living units in Wilsons Road, Newcomb. Occupancy of these units has remained at a high level with four current residents enjoying an anniversary of 24 years residency this year. This reflects the commitment of Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care to provide the residents with support, security and independence, whilst maintaining a comfortable physical environment.

Our Community Care Packages Program presently administers 50 packages in the Geelong region. These are an initiative of and partially funded by the Commonwealth Government. The aim of this program is to maintain the independence of aged clients by the appointment of a care coordinator to facilitate and identify additional care requirements in their homes, enabling a simple and streamlined access to additional support, without a premature or inappropriate admission to residential services.

Expansion and additional funding to the Geelong program will see Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care set up a new office on the 1st Floor, 267 Ryrie St, Geelong (cnr Bellarine St) – directly opposite the Geelong Hospital and above the Geelong Medical & Accident Emergency Centre. This prominent location will enable the organisation to raise the profile of its activities to the general community as well centralise access for the entire Geelong area.

Southern Cross Home Care Services continues to grow, with 80% of care provided to the Community Care Package Program. It currently employs 20 home-care staff to provide personal and home care to clients. It provides services to other service providers in the region and welcomes all new referrals for the provision of home care.

• Contact for the Community Care Packages Program: Ms Helen Edwards, Program Manager, Community Care Packages Program, Suite 7, 1st Floor, 267 Ryrie St, Geelong, tel: 5248 8734.

• Contact for Home Care Services: Ms Lyn Beasy, Home Care Co-ordinator, Community Care Packages Program, Suite 7, 1st Floor, 267 Ryrie St, Geelong, tel: 5248 8314.

• Contact for Independent Living Units: Mr Pat Abbott, Southern Cross Vic. Aged Care Head Office, 284 Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills 3127, FreeCall tel: 1800 508 008.

Spiritual Direction

For several years now the ‘Retreat in Daily Life’ has been offered to the people of Geelong. The purpose of these retreats is to help those who take part to have a deeper experience of prayer through reflecting on the Scriptures and come closer to the Lord. It is very much a retreat in ‘ daily life’ – you continue with your ordinary daily routine, and devote some time each day to prayer with the help of a Scripture passage.

Taking part in such a retreat program can be an excellent introduction to the benefits of receiving spiritual direction on some regular basis. As Christians we are called to an ever-deepening relationship with God as we struggle with the flow of life, and can take great heart from the words of Jesus: ‘I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). We are constantly reminded that we need the support of other people: parents, teachers, tradespeople, friends, professional services, etc. And this is no less so than in the area of our faith life. It is only in recent times that people have sought the support of a spiritual director like they would seek the professional services of a doctor, counsellor or psychologist.

So, what is spiritual direction? One helpful definition suggests that it is ‘an interpersonal relationship in which one person assists others to reflect on their own experience in the light of who they are called to become in fidelity to the gospel’. This suggests that the ministering person (director, helper) is directly concerned with a person’s actual experience of his/her relationship with God.

So the focus of this kind of spiritual direction is the relationship itself between God and the person, and the emphasis is on religious experience and not on ideas about God. It is not about advice giving and problem solving, but implies that the one seeking direction engages in an ongoing journey of searching the heart, the personal core of one’s being, in fidelity to God’s presence in the their daily life. This presumes a prayer relationship in which the directee communicates all of him/herself: feelings, moods, thoughts, desires, hopes and so on. In direction the helping minister walks with the directee as he/she deepens their intimacy with God.

The director is like a filter guiding others to experience God’s love, as St Paul reminded the Ephesians when he prayed for them: ‘Out of his infinite glory may God give you the power through his spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith’ (Ephesians 3:16–17).

Why seek direction? For some people the search for ‘spiritual’ consolation to life’s problems is found by calling into a centre that advertises psychic readings, tarot card predictions, and the like, as can be found in Bell Park. But for those on the Christian journey, desiring to deepen their relationship with God, support through regular spiritual direction is readily available. For those interested the ‘Retreat in Daily Life’ program is an excellent place to start.

Those wishing to find out more about spiritual direction can contact me at Holy Family Church, Bell Park, phone 5278 1343 or fax 5278 4618.

A Retreat for Busy People

One of the calls of the Year of Great Jubilee is to have ‘fallow’ time, that is, to find time in our hectic lifestyles to reflect, recreate and play, so that there is a balance in our lives. In order to help people implement ‘fallow’ time, we are delighted to offer, for the seventh year, an opportunity for the people of Geelong and district to make a ‘retreat in Daily Life’.

These retreats have proven to meet the needs of busy people, some of whom make them on a regular basis.

This year the retreat begins with an opening session on Saturday, 13 May, and finishes with a concluding session on Saturday, 3 June. Both these sessions will be held at St Peter & Paul Hall, 1 Malone St, Geelong West.

As well as these two sessions, you are asked to commit yourself to 10-20 minutes of personal prayer each day. In order to help you with this prayer, you will meet with your Retreat Director twice weekly. The cost of the retreat is $65, or whatever part of this amount you can afford.

We ask you to give this retreat consideration if you:

• Have felt the need to pray but are not sure how to get started,

• Feel your faith is sluggish and you want to be re-energised,

• Feel the need to evaluate your life at present,

• Are searching for renewed meaning in life, or

• Want to delve into your personal story.

Enrolment forms are available in churches in the Deanery. Enrolments close 5 May 2000.

Youth Art Exhibition

A major initiative of the Geelong Catholic Social Justice Committee planned for this coming October will be a Youth Art Exhibition featuring work by students of Catholic secondary and primary schools in the Deanery.

The art will be linked to themes of the Year of Great Jubilee, particularly to the desire to make our world more just.

Following an official opening on 5 October, the exhibition will be open to the public over the weekend of 6 to 8 October at St Joseph’s College Hall.

Schools will be contacted with further information after the Easter holidays.

Watch parish bulletins and the next Deanery Digest for further details.

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