Works begin on expansion

By Shaun Inguanzo
WORKS have begun on the Russian Welfare Society’s $1.6 million aged care expansion.
Stage one of the works is now under way at the Conway Street site and the society is set to continue its appeal to reach the $1.6 million mark required to complete its planned expansions.
The first stage includes a new dining room and commercial kitchen, car parking, laundromat, respite bed accommodation, resident activity area and staff facilities that aim to make the society’s Kronstadt Gardens aged care facility better than ever.
Russian Welfare Society chairman the Very Reverend Michael Protopopov said the expansion was vital to cope with the booming number of elderly people in the community.
“The new construction is a vital component of the facilities needed to provide quality services to the residents of Kronstadt Gardens and to meet growing community aged care needs,” he said.
“We have many challenges ahead with the multicultural communities facing the highest need for aged care in Australia.”
The Department of Health and Ageing has pitched in $830,000 to the project, the Brockhoff Foundation $50,000, Tattersall’s Foundation $20,000, and the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust $20,000.
Russian Welfare Society community development officer Janene Blanchfield-Brown said community members and sponsors purchased appeal bricks, many of which paid tribute to family members and past residents of Kronstadt Gardens aged care facility.
They will also decorate the walkway to the new dining room.