By ALANA MITCHELSON
A unique Geelong palliative care facility is running at a third of capacity to the disbelief of the terminally ill and their families.
But Anam Cara House staff say that a lack of funds means they can’t look after as many patients as they would like.
Adrian Di Cristoforo said his family was relieved to find Anam Cara House after his now-deceased mother, Ellie, was told late last year she had just months to live.
A hospital had offered palliative care but the family was thrilled to have access to the additional support of Anam Cara, he said.
“Within 15 minutes of contacting Anam Cara one of their volunteers was talking to me face-to-face at the hospital.
“Within two days they’d made arrangements to have mum transferred in time for her 60th birthday.
“Mum was so ill that we didn’t know whether she was going to live to her birthday. It was the last time she was very coherent and the whole family was able to come in and celebrate.
“It was the first time in months I’d seen her smile.”
Mr Di Cristoforo said Anam Cara’s additional family-support services made him feel at home and “at ease” while improving his mother’s quality of life during her final days.
He explained how a volunteer took a hand print of each “guest” to craft a personalised hexagon for addition to a quilt, which became a precious memento after their death.
“The staff and volunteers were unbelievable and approach their work with passion,” Mr Di Cristoforo said.
“There’s a kitchen to cook tea and we had a big family dinner one night.
“Being Italian, we were able to cook meals we’d usually have at home and stay for as long as we wanted.
“I found it shocking and just couldn’t understand why mum was the only person there for those 10 weeks. There were three other beds that just sat there, empty,” he said.
Anam Cara House’s Rochelle Smith said the facility could offer almost 1500 days’ worth of care and support for guests and their families.
“In the past year we’ve run about one-third of our capacity. There are empty beds all throughout the year that could be filled by people in need,” Ms Smith said.
With no government funding, the facility relies on donations.
Ms Smith said more information was available at anamcarahousegeelong.org.au.
