STORY - "Healing has a home"

“You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report.
You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid.”

These lines from TS Eliot’s poem “Little Gidding” (- Four Quartets) might be thought to apply best to a place of worship, but after attending the blessing and opening of Zimmerman House at Carrington in September, they sprang to mind. Named to honour its patron, Sr Beverly Zimmerman RSJ, Zimmerman House is the new name for the Diocesan Child Protection and Professional Conduct Unit (DCPPCU).

Zimmerman House is a place with a long history and a common thread of healing and hope. The rambling two-storey home was opened as a convent for the Sisters of St Joseph in 1889. As Anne Gleeson pointed out during the opening ceremony, “The Newcastle Herald reported that Carrington was ‘avoided like the plague by the frock-coated gentry of Newcastle Town’. This is the environment that the Sisters of St Joseph moved into.” The convent closed in 1970 and became a private home.

In 1989 the convent became MacKillop House, a supported short-term residence for people living with HIV/AIDS. The staff and volunteers lived as their guests lived, sharing the house as a home.

In 2000 St John of God Family Services arrived, providing such services as home support for families, parenting education, respite care and counselling.

In 2006 the building was occupied by Student Support Services of the Catholic Schools Office. Staff provided practical, face to face support and a significant adult in students’ lives whom they could trust.

In February 2007 the Parish of Newcastle allowed the DCPPCU to move in and begin setting up Zimmerman House.
Manager Helen Keevers says that collaboration and partnership are at the heart of this work and ministry. “If we want to ensure a safe community and to facilitate healing for those affected by abuse, we need to work together. This approach enables us to create something special and innovative in the diocese.”

Bishop Michael thanked diocesan Chancellor Sr Beverly for her patronage of this new initiative. He explained that ‘Zimmerman’ means ‘one who builds’ and so Zimmerman House is a place where people will be “‘rebuilt’ and made whole”.

Tracey Edstein

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