Last Wednesday the Home and Community Care (HACC) in Canowindra celebrated 25 years with a morning tea for past and present staff and volunteers at the CWA Hall in Canowindra. There are over 4,000 HACC services in NSW with up to 240,000 people receiving one or more HACC service each month. It is estimated by 2031 that there will be 1.2 million people in the HACC target group.
Funding for the Home and Community Care service was first received in July 1992 under Cabonne Council. The driving force behind this funding was Mr Gary Brown who worked at Cabonne Council for 31 years and recently retired. The first service delivered under this funding was community transport.
The first HACC coordinator was Maggie White from 1992, Merlene James took over in 1993. Merlene was fundamental in moulding the service in to what it is today. Merlene retired after 17 years in July 2010. Debbie Young then took on the role before Sarah Bellach commenced in 2011 and continues today.
Other long standing staff include Heather Barr the Food Services Officer for 9 years and Alan Symons. Currently HACC has 120 volunteers assisting 229 clients in Cabonne. These numbers are exceptional based on the size of the service. Over the past 25 years HACC has assisted 597 clients. In 2016/2017 HACC delivered 8,393 hours of social support, 13,866 meals and 646 hours of home
maintenance.
Good luck for the next 25 years!