Building work at Romana will commence on Wednesday 12th March.
Carey morning #2
Amanda and I visited Carey this morning to speak at the Hickman House Chapel Service. It was a terrific morning. There were many more people present than at the service we attended last Tuesday. It will be fascinating to see how the Servants/Carey relationship progresses in the months ahead.
More on the council and confidentiality
We (Matt and I) met with council earlier this week to discuss their confidentiality agreement.
It was “feisty”- although it ended on a positive note and it was good that everybody wanted to see the growth of Servants to happen
Obviously we cannot share details of the agreement (otherwise it would be self defeating) but we have been very happy with our lawyers in the way they have dealt with this. We are dealing with the property team at Moores for the first time and they have been great. They suggested changes that needed to be incorporated and council’s lawyers have responded to these.
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.
CEO performance review reflections
My annual Performance Review concluded earlier this week when I met with Connie and Tim to discuss the findings. I have to say that is so pleasing that committee, staff and myself appear to be so closely aligned in our collective thinking in regards to the job that I am doing for Servants. The process we adopted this year for the review certainly worked very well from my perspective.
I was particularly pleased with the review process when considering the stories that Yarra Community Housing CEO, Rob Leslie, shared with us at last October’s committee meeting of half of his committee having the knives out for him! I believe that that our CEO/board relationship is in a terrific place at the present time and I trust that we will all work diligently to ensure that this is the case going forwards.
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.
Carey. Morning #1
This morning Amanda and I visited Carey to speak at the Chapel service of one of their 10 houses. It was an excellent morning. What I had to say was very well received. One of the Chaplains has already asked me to speak to some of his younger students at a later date. An offering was held – raising over $1000 for Servants.
We visit another of the houses this coming Sunday morning for a repeat performance.
Both of these houses have chosen Servants as their charity of choice for 2014. There will be several house events throughout the year that will raise funds for Servants.
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.
Surrender
Amanda and I will be attending the Surrender Conference at Belgrave Heights between 14th and 16th March. We will have a Servants stand there and are hopeful of meeting folks from many church groups who will want to know more about our work. This is something of a first for Servants – it will be good to see what good things come out of it!
http://surrender.org.au/about-the-conference/
RC Hawthorn
The Rotary Club of Hawthorn has informed me that they have chosen Servants as their charity of choice for community projects for the coming year. Good timing as I have a few things they might want to consider contributing to one way or another!
It is so nice to have our work both appreciated and supported.
Hawthorn Community Chest
At their request I met with HCC earlier this week. They quickly fell in love with Servants and are already talking of helping us with significant sponsorship $$$ for the Narrative book. Exciting times!
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
Update on NDA #2
I have engaged Moores now and they will send someone from their property department to the meeting on Monday with council.
The council’s lawyers baulked at supplying the NDA because they suggested it contained “confidential material”
After a bit of pressure council agreed to release a redacted version for our lawyers review.
phew.
Warren.
Update on the NDA with council
I have asked Council for copies of the NDA for our lawyers to review. Council have agreed and are organising this now.
I have also updated the Housing Registrar regarding the NDA – their response is below:
Warren.
Hi Warren
We have not had a situation where an
agency has signed a non-disclosure agreement with regard to a housing project.That said, we note that your legal advisors
will be reviewing the non-disclosure agreement. While reviewing this
document, Servants and their legal advisors must keep in mind your
obligations under the Housing Act 1983 particularly in your
obligation to meet Performance Standards.Servants will be subject as usual to
regulatory engagement which requires full disclosure of contractual and
financial documentation regarding all housing projects and regular progress
reports ofn such projects.We also draw your attention to the Housing
Registrar’s confidentiality policy which can be found on our websiteConfidentiality
fact sheet (PDF Size 161kb) and
which provides a general overview of the management and handling of information
by the Housing Registrar under the Housing Act 1983..
You should also note that if the Registrar
has any concerns he is an inspector and can commence an investigation under
the Housing Act 1983.Do feel free to contact me again if
you require any further assistance.Regards
Christine Witton
Project Officer
Death at Ivy Grange
As you may well have seen in the media today a resident of Ivy Grange rooming house was murdered at Ivy by a fellow resident in the early hours of Sunday morning. Clearly a terribly sad story this should act as a great reminder to all at Servants that we continue to house a very fragile community of people. Let’s remember that some of our very best resos have come to us from Ivy – yes, we have far greater control of who comes into our houses and our model works wonderfully well – but the guys at Ivy and the guys we house, well, they’re really not a million miles apart. And of course, on rare occasions we have mistakenly housed some violent people who have caused us all sorts of problems. It will be fascinating to see what happens at Ivy from here on in – we already have 2 guys from Ivy ready to move across he road to Romana on Opening Day.