Upper Yarra
5 Tuesday, 16 August, 2016
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Mail Covering the Upper Yarra Region of the Yarra Ranges Shire
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Please let us stay By Kath Gannaway
Residents Lyman Ritchi and June Leith, centre, have community support for their need to stay at home in Warburton. 157860 actually laid the bricks for this facility when they were younger, planning ahead, with the belief that they would live out their days in the community in which they lived and worked. “Now there is a distinct possibility that they will be transferred from a facility they built, as a result of the Federal Government cuts. “These valued, and now vulnerable,
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members of the community are very frightened,” Ms Godenzi said. Joy Milk, 95, is one of them. Mrs Milk said she was fearful of losing the independence she had at AdventCare Yarra Ranges. “I walk every day into the town, and I know everybody down there. It keeps me going,” she told the Mail. Continued on Page 3
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50 people out of work,” she said. She said residents and their families were devastated, with some facing having to relocate their entire family to remain close to their loved-ones in aged-care. She said the facility was more than just bricks and mortar to many of the residents. “There are some residents who
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residents and staff for many years. Calling on Federal Member Tony Smith for assistance, Ms Godenzi said a one-size-fits-all approach to funding cuts was not on. “Factors such as our rural community’s low socio-economic rating with high unemployment should be taken into consideration, as should the costs that will be incurred by forcing another
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CLOSURE of the town’s aged-care facility is just one blow too many for Warburton, according to a group formed last week to keep the facility open. As reported in the Mail (9 August) AdventCare which runs the facility announced on 3 August they were closing the facility, saying it was not viable. The Save Warburton Aged-Care Group (SWAG) was formed the next day (4 August) with more than 60 people representing residents, families and local businesses stepping up to fight the closure, calling on AdventCare to hold closure until March 2017, and on the Federal Government to maintain funding and fund a full study into the economic impact on the community. SWAG chairperson Peta Godenzi said they were intent on keeping the facility open for the benefit and wellbeing of the residents, their families and the Warburton and district communities. A rally on Thursday, 11 August demonstrated the growing concern and support for the Warburton SeventhDay Adventist Church, which is also fighting the closure, the 30 or so residents, and staff. Community members from schoolchildren and businesspeople to family members and staff joined with the aged-care residents who face losing their home. Ms Godenzi said the announcement had come as a huge shock to the community. Addressing recent Federal Government funding cuts, cited by AdventCare as a deciding factor in their decision, Ms Godenzi said the community knew nothing of the cuts and the potential impact it would have so close to home. She said the impact on local commerce would be huge with businesses including the pharmacy, supermarket, butcher, hairdresser, doctors, cafes and others having served the aged-care, its