A casual remark seven years ago has blossomed into a story to touch your heart and the hearts of many others in Noosa and the Sunshine Coast.
Since Katie Rose Cottage Hospice in the Noosa hinterland opened in 2016 more than 300 people have chosen to spend their final days peacefully, surrounded by the love of their families in a serene, home away from home environment.
And the support by the community for the “haven on the hill” has never been warmer and more apparent.
Carol Raye, of Doonan, has been board chairperson during those years. She retired at the end of last year and this week she met Noosa Today to talk about her time in the chair plus the exciting plans the hospice has for future expansion.
Carol was a volunteer fundraiser at a hospice in Adelaide before she and her pilot husband John decided to retire to Noosa. Previously, she had been working in fundraising and marketing for not-for-profits like the St John Ambulance.
“Years ago my mother had passed away in a very clinical setting and for that reason I wanted to get involved with a hospice.
“I noticed there was one in Doonan at Eumundi Noosa Road so I went there and for more than two years I worked as a volunteer.
“It closed through lack of funds and other reasons and, when it ended, the volunteers used to meet at the Doonan Café, especially the gardening group. “It started with two or three and ended up with 15 or 20 people.
“After a couple of months we were all still lamenting and somebody asked what we were going to do and I said, “Why don’t we start another one?’
“This was in 2015 and the idea just fell out of my mouth. Everyone said, ‘We can do it. We know what we’re doing,’ and John Gabrielson, who is now our CEO and who had been the volunteers’ manager-co-ordinator at the previous one, said he would help with a strategic plan.
“We used to meet every week at Acres Coffee Shop in Noosaville and spread out all our papers on the table. It was our office for the first couple of months as we formed the company and got a charity licence. John was the volunteer CEO for the first six months and I’m very grateful.
“We also had a public meeting which we advertised and we outlined our plans to the 200 people there. We asked if they would support us. The J was full and Ralph Rogers, the owner of Acres said, ‘I’ll give you funds to get started.’”
Carol believes people who are terminally ill should be able to choose to go to a place, a nice environment which isn’t clinical.
“Hospitals are wonderful and they save people’s lives. A hospice, however, is a beautiful place for them to choose to spend their last days.”
She dismisses the thought that hospices are depressing. “I think you need to have empathy and compassion to understand the meaning of life and the meaning of death. After a while you feel it is a privilege to be around the families and the guests during their last journey.
“To think that here in Noosa we have this magnificent facility we should be so proud of because it is a home away from home, a beautiful environment where the nursing is so professional. Some of the nurses have said to me many times it is wonderful to be a nurse here because we can truly take time to nurse.
“I would really like to say, apart from our beautiful nurses and our fabulous volunteers, we have been successful because of Noosa philanthropists Peter and Mac Williams and their fantastic donation of the million dollars which enabled us to buy the house and land. That gave us the security and a home base that we needed.
“The house is magnificent and it embodies the perfect home environment. It is a free service to families and guests and they find it incredible that they can come to us without being charged.”
Carol said this coming year would be one of expansion for Katie Rose. It now has the Federal grant of $1.5 million which means it will now have five guest rooms with a sixth room as a multi purpose space until needed for guests.
“The grant was specific for the purpose of adding more rooms. We worked on it with Lew O’Brien’s (Federal Member for Wide Bay) office for three years.”
The hospice is also working with Queensland Health on an Outreach Palliative Care Service in the Noosa area.
“Because of Covid and other issues, it is not off the ground yet but it will be in the next few months.”
There is never a perfect time to leave so why is she leaving?
“It is just timing. It’s been seven years getting it set up, six years as chairman and working almost full time as a volunteer. It’s been a good six years. We are a very new charity and there has been a lot to do to keep it going.
“There have been some hard times, some fun times and there were sad times. It is now time to bring in someone else.
“I would like to say I haven’t done this alone. The driver of an organisation always needs someone to lead, a desire to make it work. I could not have achieved what we have if we didn’t have the volunteers and the op shops which make a huge donation. They are a huge part of our income.
“Our CEO John Gabrielson has said many times, “Every day about 50 people get out of bed and come to volunteer for Katie Rose. And they all love it, too. It is really a community driven charity and it is very special.
“We have some great sponsors and it would lovely to recognise all of them. We are grateful for the community support in services as well as people.”
She said retired accountant and current board treasurer, Les Godwin, will assume the role as chairman for an interim period and the board will work through the replacement process.
“He has been on the board since the beginning and helped us get the charity set up.
“It is important for a board not to get stale I think I’ve given it as much as I can. I have loved every minute of it and it will always be part of me.”
Carol will still have a connection with the hospice. She is staying on as chairman of a small fundraising committee.
One of the new projects in 2023 will be a raffle of an 18-carat white gold bracelet packed with diamonds and other precious stones like pink tourmaline, rose quartz and amethyst.
The bracelet, valued at more than $30,000, is being donated Noosa Civic jeweller Eliahi Priest, 41, of Priest Jewellers. He and his family were greatly moved by the level of compassion and care his wife, Kristy-Elle was given at Katie Rose when she died from cervical cancer last May.
Carol said: “All of us at Katie Rose are especially touched that Kristy-Elle’s family felt our care and support worthy of such a magnificent prize for our next lottery.”
