PERTH, WA: April 26, 1990
Number 2685
Registered by Australia Post Publication No. WAR 0202
POST ADDRESS: PO Box 50, Northbridge, 6000 W.A. LOCATION: 26 John St, Northbridge (east off Fitzgerald St).
TELEPHONE: (09) 328 1388
FAX (09) 328 7307
Archbishop officially opens new premises of Centrecare
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Big bucks well spent The $1.1 million Hay Street property purchase and the further $800,000 refurbishment was money worth spending on the ministry of caring, Archbishop Foley said before he officially opened Centrecare's new premises. "The welfare of people, of married and family life cannot be measured in financial terms,- he said. He praised the fact that not only was the service being presented on Hay Street but that it was supporting extension services at North Beach, and Girrawheen Kalgoorlie. He said that over the past seven years the welfare agencies had come of age. Earlier central management t y Centrecare had now been replaced by boards for each agency, taking problems out of the hands of those deliv-
ering the services, he said. He praised the efforts of Mr Tony McAlinden in this connection. The chairman of the Centrecare board of management, Mr Kevin Wringe, traced the development of services from the initial step of Fr Joe Russell in 1961 to establish the Catholic Marriage Guidance Council at locations in Hill St, and 77 St George's Terrace and Victoria Square the continuation of the work under acting director Father Jim O'Brien (1969-72), Father Barry Hickey for 13 years, Beatrice MacFarlane till 1986, and under Mr Chris Hall as co-ordinator to the 1986-88 appointment of Mr Pietropiccolo in 1989. He noted that today under co-ordinators Margaret Van Keppel, Jan Macklin and Maureen Helen, the Centrecare agency involved 20 full and
14 part time staff and 29 volunteers. He paid tribute to the work of the late Barbara Kinna 197277, and Pregnancy Help co-ordinator till 1989,
Mr
Schoenmaker. The annual budget of $1,125,000, Mr Wringe said was supported by Perth archdiocese, the WA the Government, Attorney General's Department and the Catholic Charities Appeal. He outlined the services offered by Centrecare in counselling, pregnancy help advice, post adoption counselling, adolescent mediation services, financial management support, support for homeless families, assistance to expectant mothers, home visiting, client advocacy and the formation of social skills along with programmes of preventative care.
• When it came to Holy water for last Saturday's blessing of Centrecare, Pregnancy Help Co-ordinator Maureen Helen thought the occasion was worthy of her wedding present a crystal bowl which she is seen offering to Archbishop Foley.
Love thy neighbour A call for people to be caring
In addition to Neighbourhood Watch against crime, we needed more neighbourhood care both in the church and in the community, Archbishop Foley said last Saturday. "We cannot allow the ministry of caring to be solely in the hands of our significant agencies and their professionally trained volunteer helpers," he said at the blessing of Centrecare's new Hay Street premises. The new building was a call for the Church to be a caring Church and for this to be expressed in the life of each Church individual.
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Over the centuries, the Church has made its mark with church buildings but also in its care for the weak, the poor, the orphaned and the homeless. The Church has a mission of truth and a mission of love, he said. "One moment the Church is teaching; the next moment it is loving." Earlier generations of the Church had left signs of their caring for the needy, and in Western Australia there had been many well known orphanages from which many people had been able to live life to the fullest. TiAftVrltV,-
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"That mission for caring is a continuation of Christ's mission for those really in need. The Church owns that call to mission. "What the Church is called to do locally is symbolised in the agencies. It is a call to be a caring people." The motivation for responding to this call, he said, was respect for the dignity of people, recognising the unique gift of each person and helping each individual to achieve selfdetermination." This motivation, he said, had been expressed in the mission statement drawn up by the Centrecare staff.