There was a death at Carrical this evening. Dennis Donovan, 71, died onsite at about 8.00pm having collapsed, presumably with a massive heart attack, at about 6.45pm. Paramedics worked so hard to revive Dennis (having replaced Amanda and residents when they turned up) but eventually had to accept the inevitable. Dennis had been at Carrical for at least 16 years – he was there as I started in 1998. A very gentle man who said very little but was greatly respected Dennis will be greatly missed. So very sad to see one more of the real old timers at Carrical pass away. It is some consolation that he died in his home and that he was surrounded by folks whom I think Dennis called his family.
Category Archives: Houses
Female!!
Great excitement today as I offered a Romana place to a FEMALE OF THE SPECIES! What’s more, she accepted the place! This is great news! Her name is Natalie and I think she is going to add greatly to the Romana community as it establishes.
Also of excitement today, but not quite as exciting as knowing that we will have at least one female reso from Opening Day @ Romana, was interviewing a guy, Wayne, who will also be a terrific reso once Romana commences.
Romana works
Building work at Romana will commence on Wednesday 12th March.
General Lease and Dept
On Friday Amanda and I met with Jo Holl from DHS Leasing to commence talks re Servants and the General Lease. It was a particularly beneficial meeting as we were able to express our specific concerns in regards to the General Lease, update the Dept in terms of our progress to date (having a full condition report completed/talking with St Kilda Community Housing and Yarra Community Housing re maintenance options) discuss the future of our CCB funds as well as arrangements for our ongoing presence at Hamer post the culmination of the current lease on 30/6/15.
A meeting of the Servants Risk Committee will be held in early March to progress thinking/actions in regards to the General Lease.
Romana builder appointed
A builder has been appointed for the Romana renovations. Steve Skurnik has recommended that Project One Builders be appointed to undertake the work. Their quote of $68,951 (excl GST) is significantly below the Servants budget for the alterations which was $100,000. At this stage Steve remains confident that we will be housing our first resos there in the last week of April or very early May. Project One will be using their own employees for the job – not contractors.
Hamer House Meeting
There was a Resident House Meeting at Hamer last night. In this meeting we introduced Patrick & Carly as the new live-in managers and Martin as the Day Manager. All were well received by the resos there. There will be a farewell meal for Grace, Olga and Tim at Hamer at the appropriate time.
Romana quotes
I heard from architect Steve that the tendering process/quotes are now in for Romana. Two builders quoted – one coming in just under $90,000 and the other over $20,000 cheaper. Steve will advise us of his preference later this week. All very exciting stuff and we continue to draw nearer to that day in April when our first reso will be able to call Romana ‘home.’
Hostile and mud sticks
Last Friday I met with a teacher at Carey who expressed concern with the fact that 2 of her students are going to be involved in our new book project. The upshot of this conversation was that I satisfied her questions and she will be visiting Carrical in the very near future to have a look for herself. I write this to let you all know that although we are more often than not met with generosity and open mindedness we are still, in many ways fighting an uphill battle. The teacher concerned was an ex-cop and had prejudices against rooming houses, the mentally ill and those without jobs in spades. Indeed, if the aforementioned were Olympic disciplines she would have won a swag of gold. Appreciating fully that she does of course have a duty of care to her students her manner and questioning of me/Servants was appalling – not to mention ignorant. Originally I was not intending to Pulse this story – however, Warren, quite rightly I believe, encouraged me to do so. I am happy to talk with individuals about this meeting if so desired. In general life is pretty tough for those we house – made all the more difficult when community opinion is as dreadful as I encountered recently. The positive? This makes me still more determined to represent well and care for those housed by Servants and also that I feel Servants can questioned/challenged and we do have terrific answers and anecdotal stories to respond with.
Somehow this reminds me of one of my all time fave quotes. The legendary John Wayne once said ‘Life’s pretty tough ……………….. it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.’
Interviews
As groups begin to realize that an additional 24 beds are to be made available thru the opening of Romana the demand for interviews is increasing. We currently have 4 new people expecting to move in around Opening Day. In the coming week there are interviews galore lined up – most of whom sound, in advance of meeting the people, excellent.
Speaking at Carey
In the week ahead I have 2 speaking engagements at Carey chapel services. On both Tuesday and Sunday mornings I will be introducing the work of Servants to Carey. I have been given the theme of ‘making a difference’ to talk to. Nice!! These speaking engagements are significant as I see a very important Servants/Carey relationship about to commence.
LV/Boroondara Council
Servants had a stunning night on Tuesday hosting Leadership Victoria at Carrical with the 15 team leaders from Boroondara Council they are currently taking thru a leadership program. In many ways it was a moving evening and, if nothing else, there are now considerably more people working for Council who know about our work. One resident spoke to the group about parts of his life journey and, in particular, his housing journey of late. A great night.
Romana Property Report Update
Following the committee meeting on Monday night I talked with our architect, Steve Skurnik, re getting a complete condition report done on Romana. His email response, detailed below, was very encouraging and will doubtless save us a few thousand dollars:
Matt
Just confirming our conversation and advising that, as part of their works, the contractor will be required to undertake an inspection and prepare a dilapidation report of the building and surrounding sites and structures.
I propose to do this as a joint inspection with the Builder.
That way Servant’s will be aware of all building defects evident before works commence
No need to undertake a separate inspection then!.
Cheers
Steve Skurnik
De Jong Architects
3 down. 21 to go.
3 of the 24 Romana vacancies have now been taken.
In April we will welcome Big Jim, Norrie and Jaime to the new house. All were thrilled with the accommodation and are really looking forward to moving in.
Winning over the ignorant
I received a call last week from an alleged psychologist from the Salvos. She was unfamiliar with our work and was looking to place someone in housing with us. I was told in no uncertain terms that the rent we were charging was outrageous! It took me about 5 minutes but she came to see pretty quickly that what we offer is incredible value for money in stark comparison to what the majority of folks in rooming houses pay. She was so impressed that she now wants to visit to see for herself! Servants 1 Alleged Psychologist 0.
First for Romana
This Tuesday I have my first prospective reso interview AT Romana. This is a very definite step towards starting to operate there.
Carrical welcomes Phil
I Pulsed last week that Bart Majoor left Carrical – he was replaced today by Phil. Phil has been at Ozanam House in North Melbourne for many months awaiting a vacancy at Carrical. Hopefully he will make the very best of this opportunity. Amongst other things Phil is a Big Issue seller.
Ozanam House continue to be a wonderful connection for us in terms of finding resos; this relationship was established during our early days in Canterbury.
Bart
Bart Majoor, brother of Conrad and reasonably long-term Canterbury and Carrical reso moved out on Tuesday of this week. His intended replacement made a last minute decision not to move in. A new reso replaces Bart next Monday. A rarity occurs here with several empty room nights being accumulated.
Narrative
I have been in touch with Southern Colour – the mob who printed both editions of Anthology – and that have provided me with various quotes for various quantities of the new book. My initial idea is that we should print between 10,000 and 20,000 copies.
I had a very productive meeting with Balwyn Rotary yesterday morning and they will explore within their Club the idea of sponsoring all costs associated with the publishing of the book. Watch this space …………………
Interviews galore!
The demand for Servants’ housing remains as high as ever. The really excellent news is that as Carrical and Hamer remain full with very few vacancies that people are starting to line up to be housed by us at Romana.
I am quietly confident that we are going to get Romana off to a terrific start when the time comes.
Property Condition Report
As we approach the signing (or otherwise) of the General Lease for the next 5 years at Carrical from 1st July 2014 I can report that we have hired the services of Steve Skurnik to undertake a full condition report of Carrical.
This report will be ready for viewing and consideration by the committee at the upcoming 10th February committee meeting.
Steve Skurnik is the architect involved in the Romana renovations.