FEMALE residents at Western Lodge, a supported residential service in Footscray, used to lie awake at night fearing that an attacker or rapist would enter their room- that was before Wesley Mission Melbourne took over management last year.
But the Mission’s contract to manage the site is expected to expire at the end of this month.
The Department of Human Services prosecuted the previous operators of the lodge for breaches of the Health Services Act in 2003.
DHS then appointed an administrator to manage Western Lodge in June 2006 and later Wesley Mission Melbourne took-up the reigns.
A DHS spokesman told Star that at present: “We are just considering our options at the moment and one of them is to further extend the administration period past the current expiry date, which I believe is early May.”
The DHS spokesman would not comment further on what would happen to the premises.
He would not comment for “legal reasons” on where the situation stood between the proprietor of the lodge and the previous landlord, who were in dispute last year over serious longstanding maintenance issues.
The future of the site is still in limbo, despite almost a year passing since an administrator was appointed.
Michael O’Kelly from Wesley Mission Melbourne said the organisation had made several improvements to the way the facility functions, in the last six months.
When the Mission took over, most of the door locks were broken while windows and doors were missing, making it possible for anyone to walk-in off the street, putting the residents’ safety at risk.
The new managers installed locks on the doors and corrected other safety problems. Support staff walk the corridors of the two-storey building, which has been described as a rabbit warren, providing 24-hour security.
The 100-bed facility used to be so crowded that people would be sleeping in the laundry.
And despite being described as a supported residential service, meals were irregular, generally of poor quality and those with mental-health problems were not given the attention they needed.
However, Mr O’Kelly limited the accommodation offered to 60 residents, Ozanam House’s caterers were contracted to provide three nutritious meals a day to residents, and staff were hired to ensure that people with mental conditions took their medication and attended doctors’ appointments.
But Mr O’Kelly said there was room for further improvement, such as to the maintenance of the building.
There are some who say that despite improvements, Western Lodge is still a horrific place, in comparison to other supported residential services.
Mr O’Kelly said the facility was needed and that “realistically I think we will go on”.
“But my biggest fear is just closing down in a week’s time and not properly supporting the people in the transition.”
