Creating a feeling of belonging at Sacred Heart Community

Arts workshops, music and more

They make a great team, bouncing ideas off each other and drawing on each other’s range of skills to prepare a dynamic program for residents to participate in as much or as little as they like. Examples include arts and crafts workshops, cooking, music, exercises, quizzes, gardening, bus trips, visits to the cinema, musical bingo – the list goes on.

The Hive, an open space for residents to do arts and crafts at their leisure, features music, tea and coffee facilities and is open much of the day for people to pop in and express their creativity.

The team are creative about ensuring residents can participate in a range of activities on a budget, considering that our residents are full pensioners. They recently went to the cinema to see the Elvis Presley biopic. To bring costs down, they went on a Tight Tuesday for $12 tickets, and the theatre allowed them to bring their own lunch.

Our residents meet quarterly to make suggestions for activities and other aspects of their home life. They also have a large footy tipping competition and a Melbourne Cup Day sweep each year which brings in considerable excitement.

Furry visitors

Santi and Tammy also engage a pet therapy program through the Delta Society. Pooch Frankie visits the residents once a fortnight with his owner. Staff members also bring in their dogs to visit and connect with residents.

Tammy says having animals at Sacred Heart Community is positive for residents and staff. “The pets make such an impact on everybody, it’s lovely. Without a little four-legged friend, it’s so different.”

“Those who don’t engage with us, will engage with the dogs!” says Santi. “They don’t discriminate, if there’s a lap there to be sat on, they will jump up and give some love.”

Head-shaving for a good cause

Many of the residents are enthusiastic about giving back to the community. Santi came up with the idea of the World’s Greatest Shave for the Leukaemia Foundation. Santi and around 15 residents have been shaving their heads each year for the last seven years, with residents donating gold coins in support.

They also run an annual morning tea with gold coin donations to support a charity based in the Northern Territory that provides education programs for children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“It gives them a sense of value, wellbeing and purpose. A lot of our residents realise how lucky they are and how generous people are towards them and so this is a way for them to acknowledge that and do the same,” says Santi.

“They really want to help others in their own way,” says Tammy.

“It’s whatever the residents want”

Tammy and Santi both love what they do. “It’s different every day, and the people here are really genuine and authentic,” says Tammy.

“The challenge of trying to engage everyone, particularly someone who’s been resistant in the past, finding out tidbits of their lives you didn’t know. And you’re always being thanked for the smallest thing,” says Santi.

“The residents are very grateful – they’ve all had some sort of trauma in their lives and now they’re in a home. It’s whatever they want, completely resident-focused and -driven.”