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Sacred Heart Community

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Man wearing a suit and a wide-brimmed black hat
Are you in need of immediate help? Get help now
A home for life for people with a history of chronic homelessness
We are accepting applications for new residents. Enquire today!

Sacred Heart Community in Melbourne has been supporting people as they age within their local community since 1994. It is a high care residential facility in St Kilda, which provides support for up to 97 people.

Sacred Heart Community provides 24-hour aged care, clinical support and palliative care services for people living with a disability, mental health issues, significant drug and alcohol use.

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Sacred Heart Community
Our services include:
  • 24-hour aged care
  • Clinical support
  • Palliative care services
  • Social inclusion and lifestyle program
General enquiries
Available daily from 9am to 5pm
Admissions Coordinator, Denise Harrington
Facility Manager, Louise Temminghoff
Visit
Open daily from 9am to 5pm

Our aged care and clinical support services

Our support differs from many other aged care services, because we also support people from a younger age group with aged care approvals whilst receiving NDIS supports. Our residents come to Sacred Heart Mission after a lifetime of living with persistent disadvantage. At Sacred Heart Community their life experiences and diversity are welcomed. Here, they have a home for life.

You can spend the rest of your life here. You won’t die alone and you will be surrounded by loving people.
– Graham, Sacred Heart Community Resident Representative

Our residents

Most of our residents have histories of experiencing homelessness, disadvantage, and marginalisation due to mental health issue and substance abuse.

Many have a range of complex needs, resulting from negative life experiences including the effects of poverty, exposure to trauma and social isolation. These complexities require a very different approach to service provision than other aged care services.

Many Sacred Heart Community residents experience premature ageing due to a lifetime of persistent disadvantage. This may be due to long-term experiences of homelessness complex mental illness, comorbidities and poor medication management, histories of trauma and drug/alcohol dependence, among other factors. This means our residents are, on average, younger than most people who require residential aged care services.

Our staff are extremely experienced in supporting people living with complex care needs who require a high care environment at a younger age. Sacred Heart Community is both Aged Care and NDIS accredited.

Many residents have lost contact with family and friends. It is therefore essential that meaningful relationships are fostered between residents and staff. This ensures the residents are supported and engaged and find their place within their new home. For those who do have relationships with their families, we support residents to maintain and rebuild connections with their relatives and friends.

Graham, Sacred Heart Community resident representative

Medical support for Sacred Heart Community residents

Sacred Heart Community fosters excellent relationships with a number of medical practitioners who work in the local area, many of whom have had lengthy existing relationships with our residents.

We work closely with the Alfred Hospital, engaging with the Mobile Assessment and Treatment Service and Hospital in the Home. The other services who support the residents are in house physiotherapists six days a week, podiatrists, speech pathologists, a dietician and psychologists. Residents are also referred to other services in the community.

Sacred Heart Community provides onsite palliative care and complex medical care for those who require it. As a high care facility, we support residents to age in place and we provide care and support until the end of someone’s life.

We have highly skilled Registered Nurses onsite 24 hours a day and an Emotional Support Therapist on staff.

Social inclusion and lifestyle (LifeMatters) program

A well-planned lifestyle program aims to create opportunities for residents to feel connected to both the home community and to the broader St Kilda community.

Residents are encouraged to maintain their independence and continue activities that have been a big part of their lives and are supported to engage with the community.

Residents are actively involved in decision making about their lives in their home. Regular Resident Group meetings are held to give residents the opportunity to provide feedback on all aspects of their care and support including around meals and activities.

Rooms and pricing information

Sacred Heart Community’s new facility at 101 Grey Street, St Kilda opened in February 2020 offering accommodation for 97 residents.

This state-of-the-art facility was designed and built-in consultation with our residents, and the architects were given a brief to ensure Sacred Heart Community’s new building was connected to the community of St Kilda. As a result, the floor plan has lots of natural light from ceiling to floor windows with views out to the activities of Grey Street, St Kilda.

The living areas are at the front of the building. Each level has its own kitchenette, with dining and lounge areas for residents’ use. The facility is within a short stroll of all the attractions of St Kilda with many public transport options for residents and visitors.

Wifi is available throughout the building with a large screen TV situated in each of the lounge rooms. There is a large courtyard and balcony where residents can gather outdoors.

Accommodation

All rooms are for a single adult, including a private ensuite. All rooms are fully accessible for those with limited mobility or wheelchair users.  

All rooms are furnished with bed, bedside locker, built-in wardrobes and cupboards, free standing six drawer unit and chair. All rooms have natural light with large operable windows, ensuite bathrooms, individual heat control and ceiling fans. All rooms have digital TVs. 

Costs and fees for care and accommodation

Everyone in residential aged care is required to pay a Basic Daily Care Fee, which is 85% of the aged pension for a single person, or $60.86 per day.

In addition, if you are assessed as financially able and eligible by the Commonwealth Government, you may need to pay a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) (previously known as a bond).

Centrelink and the Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS) will assess whether you need to pay the RAD.

The RAD is a standard room price set by the respective aged care home and is paid by a refundable lump sum. At Sacred Heart Community, this amount is $550,000.

The Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) is the RAD paid periodically (calculated as a daily amount). The DAP amount is calculated by applying the maximum permissible interest rate (MPIR) which is determined by the Commonwealth Government. then divided by 365 to determine a daily fee. The RAD can be paid as a single deposit to Sacred Heart Community, as a Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) or a combination of the two.

Current rates are:

Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD): $550,000

RAD ($550,000) x Maximum Permissible Interest Rate (8.15%) / 365 = DAP or $122.81

You can also pay the RAD as a combination payment.

For example, if you had $275,000 (50% of the RAD); you could pay this to Sacred Heart Community and you would then pay the remaining half of the RAD as a DAP.

This would be: $275,000 x 8.15% / 365 = $61.40

These amounts are in addition to the Basic Daily Care Fee. Sacred Heart Mission will continue to provide fully subsidised places to people who are full pensioners with no assets.

More information is available on My Aged Care.

How to apply to become a resident

To be eligible to become a resident you must have:

A referral is NOT required.

You can apply for accommodation directly to Denise Harrington, Admissions Coordinator:

You can also apply through the My Aged Care website.

For further information about aged care or residential care in general, please visit My Aged Care and Aged Care 101.

Contact us

Our staff are reliable, trustworthy and extremely experienced in supporting people living with complex care needs who require a high care environment at a younger age.

For questions about our aged care and clinical support service or for more information about the application process, please contact Beatrice Radihephi, Acting Facility Manager.

Phone: 045 792 0811
Email: bradihephi@sacredheartmission.org

How we help people in our community

A resident and one of our staff members chatting in the lounge area of our Sacred Heart Community
Our Impact

109 people lived in secure, supported accommodation at Sacred Heart Community in 2022-23.

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