Hello to all our friends and supporters of Margaret House Refuge. We are very excited to share with you the update on the expansion of Margaret House Refuge to include a detached prefabricated secondary dwelling. The House is becoming a fantastic hub for women and children , providing more accommodation for victims of domestic violence or who are homeless due to crisis.
Margaret House Refuge has once again been used to capacity with the pressure on housing and rentals in the region continuing to escalate. There is an extreme shortage of rental properties available, and the Young Crisis Accommodation Centre is finding it increasingly hard to place clients into affordable housing. For the refuge, this means the length of stay of residents has been increasing, leaving nowhere for new clients to go. Margaret House Committee is continuing to pursue its goal of more crisis accommodation to support vulnerable people in our own community find safety, comfort, help and hope for the future.
In our last newsletter, we were in the process of applying for a grant to the Covid-19 Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence Infrastructure Grant and we are very excited to report that we were SUCCESSFUL with one of the grants! Work has started on the installation of a ‘Prefabulous’ home for emergency accommodation for single women aged 16+. The Prefabulous home (made in Wagga and craned in on site), will have private entry and all spaces will be fenced and landscaped with cubby houses for the children in the main back yard. The garage will be redesigned to create a flexible space for use by our clients when not in use for parking. We are making use of every available space at Margaret House Refuge to accommodate more women and children. It is a beautiful welcoming space and a fantastic hub for all residents. Thank you to Craig Filmer, DA Busters in Young, Adam Tanner Builders, Alex Dalglish, Somewhere Landscape Architects and Prefabulous homes for turning this into a reality.
Above: Design for the Prefabulous house which started construction in November
UNFORTUNATELY we were unsuccessful with our second grant to provide all inclusive emergency accommodation for men, families and people with disabilities. We have been working with another housing provider in Young to develop a 2 bedroom unit for this purpose, and this now has become a project that we will vigorously pursue over the next 12 months. FUNDING is what we need to make this a reality and we are extremely grateful to our wonderful community for your support. We would like to mention the Mostyn Family Foundation, our major sponsors, who continue to support us to achieve this goal. Fundraising has been frustrating and challenging during the pandemic with the SWS Merino Field days cancelled for the second year. Thank you to the Harden Touch Footy for giving us the chance to cater for their season, bringing in much needed funds for this project.
This time last year we launched an AG PLEDGE asking farmers to donate money to the value of a tonne of wheat or a lamb. Despite a few glitches in our website at the time, this was well received and we thank those who donated to our appeal. We would like to invite all people in the ag industry to donate to our pledge and we encourage you to go onto our new website where it is easy to make a donation. Just go to our new website, margarethouserefuge.org.au, click on ‘support us’ and ‘donate’. Here you will be able to click on a dollar amount or an ag pledge. You may also like to think about becoming a corporate sponsor and donate annually. Go to our friends page on our website. We would appreciate having a discussion with you.
In other news:
Thank you to the Rainbow Makers for making the most beautiful quilt to raffle. We are holding onto this now until our next big fundraising event!
Watch this space for the next big event. With the pandemic finally easing, we think a BIG party may be on the cards…
Thank you to our lovely friends in Sydney and thanks to Sonia McAlpine for organising a movie night at Roseville, raising close to $5,000 for Margaret House Refuge.
Please do not forget about food drops to the Young Crisis Accommodation Centre! Meals in take away containers that can be frozen delivered to YCAC in Boroowa St. (next to Rivers) every Wednesday before noon
We are very grateful for your support. If you would like to make a pledge or donation you can:
Donate online at our new website—margarethouserefuge.org.au
Direct deposit—BSB: 802 367 AC: 400229242. Please use your name as a reference.
Write a cheque to Margaret House Refuge Inc. and send to PO Box 546, Young, NSW 2594. All donations are gratefully received and a tax deductable receipt will be forwarded to you.
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