Building the Lodge
For many years St Margaret ’ s Uniting Church had a Social Responsibility Committee which met to promote social issues in the church community . When I was encouraged to join the committee ( by then known as the Aged and Disability Committee ) some 20 years ago , Ross Walker and Jeff Bishop were members who were directly involved in the disability community and shared a passion for doing more locally . The first step was to work with aging parents to help them plan for the future of their family member with disability . The service grew and morphed into what became Stepping Stones for Life in 2003 , with wider activities but a sharp focus on facilitating permanent housing for the families being assisted with planning for their son or daughter .
Stepping Stones committee members , in particular Ed Miller and Annette Matheson , worked closely with ACT Housing to develop a house in Ainslie for 3 women with higher needs . As this project progressed , Jeff Bishop led a group to explore what would be involved in establishing a home on St Margaret ’ s property for people in need of support but with a greater level of independence . A model of operation was developed and the vision took shape with a preliminary concept plan prepared in 2009 by architect Alan Morschel .
We had a clear vision but no real idea where the money would come from to build it when Australia became emerged in the global financial crisis . Federal Government support became available under the Social Housing Initiative of the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan and we promptly applied for a grant in May 2009 . The preparatory work our committee had done was viewed favourably and in September 2009 we received a grant of 1.1 million dollars to build our proposed social housing .
The grant was to be administered by the ACT Housing on behalf of the Commonwealth Government , but there were many details to be resolved by the St Margaret ’ s congregation . The first was the actual site , and the congregation had a clear preference for the rear carpark rather than demolishing the house at 210 Antill St , which had been the initial plan .
While negotiations went on with ACT Housing , Alan Morschel was able to continue in a formal role to elongate his preliminary design into contract documents for an energy efficient house consisting of 6 bed sitters having ensuite facilities , and external entry to sheltered courtyards and landscaped areas . The house was to have a communal kitchen , dining and lounge / recreation areas and laundry facilities , so that a degree of independence could be encouraged , while residents would share community living with a prepared evening meal .
St Margaret ’ s News 6 RWL Special Issue