Auburn’s Gallipoli Home retirement centre welcomes first residents
The Auburn Gallipoli Mosque offshoot Gallipoli Home opened its doors and welcomed the first resident from a two year waiting list.
Parramatta
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For 78-year-old Souad Hellou being the first resident to move into the first Muslim aged care facility, Gallipoli Home, comes with many perks.
Mrs Hellou is one of five new residents settling into the Auburn home in its first few weeks of opening, and her daughter Helen Swan says she’s already seen the benefits.
“I think she’s very happy,” Ms Swan said. “She loves the attention, she’s smiling and talking and it’s a side of her I didn’t know she still had.”
Mrs Hellou, who is recovering from multiple strokes was living with one of her children but Ms Swan said the centre gave her the care and attention she needed.
“There’s nowhere that we found where she can feel comfortable and be able to talk in her first language and even though we didn’t know what to expect seeing her so happy has made the change worth it.”
The building is an offshoot of the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque and cost $22 million to build.
It has the capacity to house up to 102 residents of ethnically diverse backgrounds.
Also catering for Muslim residents it includes beds facing the direction of prayer, separate prayer rooms and Islamic themed tiles and furniture.
General manager of the centre, Andi Richardson says she hopes to change perceptions of what aged care is, refusing to call the facility an “aged care home”.
“Aged care is seen in a negative light, this isn’t a place where you dump your elderly and have them be someone else’s responsibility, we incorporate the family and we encourage them to visit regularly and we want them to feel like we are all part of a family together.”
Project director Abraham Hammoud said it has taken years to shift a community-wide mindset about retirement and care, but the popularity of the centre, with a two-year waitlist is proof their strategy is working.
“We had discussion with community groups because with a lot of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean families they have this idea that ‘we look after our own’, that each family should care for their parents or grandparents.
“But this cultural notion came before people were living well into old-age and well beyond the limits a non-trained individual has for caring for a person with dementia.”