Bellarine group donates quilts to keep homeless men warm

A GROUP of Bellarine women who love stitching will bring warmth to homeless men after donating beautiful quilts to a local support service’s accomodation project.

President of the Seachange Quilters, Pat Hodgens, along with member Karen Pantony, visited Samaritan House Geelong recently to deliver the group’s first batch of quilts, with many more in production.

Seven independent living units are currently being constructed at Samaritan House in Newcomb, which will provide accommodation to homeless men in the Geelong region.

Ms Hodgens said her group of about 80 quilters, which operated under the umbrella of the Barwon Heads Senior Citizens, heard about Samaritan House almost 18 months ago and began getting things made, but had been unable to deliver them due to lockdowns.

“Sue Draper and I have exchanged emails with information on how we could best help out over the last few months,” Ms Hodgens said.

“The quilters set to work on the quilts during lockdown but we’ve had to wait to quilt them until the seniors centre was open again.

“We managed to deliver quite a few on Friday, it was so exciting to see the new set up for Samaritan House.

“We still have more quilts in the production process, which will be delivered in the next couple of weeks.”

Ms Hodgens said the Seachange Quilters originally formed around 2007, and members were all interested in stitchery of any kind, and of course quilting.

\“It’s been a bit of a struggle since COVID but our network of ladies have all kept each other going,” she said.

“We continued to operate throughout COVID via newsletters, phone trees and social media, as many of our members live on their own.”

Ms Hodgens said the Seachange Quilters were a not-for-profit group, which made quilts for community groups in need throughout the region.

“We also help to support community groups where and when we are able, donating to community service groups when possible,” she said.

“They are seriously some of the best ladies you’ll ever meet and they love what they do.”

Samaritan House Geelong provides a welcoming and safe home for homeless men experiencing crisis, enabling their transition to a better future.

In November 2020, in conjunction with the Salvation Army, they were able to re-open Samaritan House and make it available to men who could undertake a special residential program called the Accommodation Living Skills Program.

This new program assists guests with core living skills, builds on personal strengths, provides helpful information about housing and creates tools to help them in finding suitable longer-term accommodation.

Work is well underway and the units should be available for their first residents in the third quarter of 2021.