The Katie Rose Cottage charity will take possession of the home destined to become its new hospice in Beddington Road, Doonan, on Monday.
Enormous community support, hard-working volunteers and a number of considerable private donations including one of $1 million from a Noosa family have enabled the charity to achieve its goal only six months since its establishment.
One of four volunteer co-founding directors Carol Raye said a Katie Rose Cottage hospice working under its original model and name was clearly what the community wanted.
“It’s a dream come true for us. Now we’ll have to furnish it and we’ll have to operate it,” she said.
“It’s about turning a home into a hospice with a loving environment. My criteria was if these were my last few days on earth what would I like, so it had to have nice views on to the garden and a place for families to sit with their loved ones,” she said.
“We will be opening with three ensuited bedrooms and have an area that can be converted to make a fourth bedroom in a few months and we’ll be opening a day hospice. The property is just under three acres and has lovely gardens. In a couple of years we’ll extend to a six-bed facility. We believe that will be sufficient to support the community,” she said.
Carol said the hospice would operate with paid staff including general manager John Gabrielson and registered nurses who would be supported by volunteer carers trained by a palliative care team and general carers including administration and gardening volunteers.
The charity was granted national accreditation as a public benevolent institution in January. It has about 150 registered volunteers and is operating three op shops in Tewantin and Cooroy and plans to open a fourth op shop selling furniture on the Noosa-Eumundi Road in a few weeks.
For more information or to volunteer visit www.katierosecottage.org.au
– Margaret Maccoll
