Корпорация Purple House собирает средства на покупку постоянного офиса в Перте для улучшения透析 услуг

Purple House seeks funds for new HQ in WA With the lease at Perth Purple House now in its final year, the Indigenous-owned and run health service is asking for community support to buy a permanent site. Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation – commonly known as Purple House – is fundraising to buy a permanent space to expand and improve the health and social services at its secondary headquarters in Perth. Purple House offers support with navigating the aged care system, social support and respite, personal care, transport, meals and return to Country for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It operates 20 remote dialysis clinics across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia. There are also plans to start offering dialysis in Balgo – in the Kimberley region – by the end of the year, and in Wiluna, Tom Price and Jigalong – in the Pilbara region – within the next year. The Indigenous-owned and run not-for-profit health service has its main headquarters in Alice Springs and is looking for donations to purchase a permanent space in Perth. When older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the Pilbara, Kimberley and Ngaanyatjarra lands require dialysis, they often have to move to Perth – a process which Purple House chief executive officer Sarah Brown said can be confusing and isolating. A place for support, connection Speaking to Australian Ageing Agenda, Ms Brown said they have one year left on their lease at Parry Street, located near the Royal Perth Hospital. Purple House offers a place where people can come for a cup of tea or a barbecue, or to receive support from people who share their cultural priorities and language, she said. But the current building is limited in its accessibility and does not have an on-site biomed lab where dialysis machines can be repaired. “Anyone who’s rented a house knows what a pain in the ass it is. You can’t hang pictures on the walls or do any renovations or anything really, and then you get inspected all the time and you have to scrub the floor,” said Ms Brown. “So owning a building will mean that the patients and staff can have input into how they want the place to look and feel. It can be friendly and we can make sure that we haven’t got trip hazards and that people can access a washing machine. And ideally, we’d love some good outdoor spaces but that may be beyond the possibilities. “It just means that we can renovate and make it a really warm friendly place that recognises the things that people want to do and the things they want to see and listen to and [have] access to services that they need to have.” Keeping spirit strong As communicated by the Purple House board, having a permanent space is also important for “kurrunpa” – or spirit, Ms Brown said. Things that keep your spirit alive and strong are being on Country, but also being with family, having access to bush foods, bush medicines and traditional healing, and being able to look after each other, she said. “And that’s much easier to do off Country when you’ve got a good space to get people together and have some fun,” said Ms Brown. “[It means] that life’s not all about waiting for your next dialysis day, waiting for family to come on the bush bus to visit you [or] waiting to die, but there can be somewhere people can have some agency over their lives, they can have some hope for the future and that they can sandpaper off the hard edges of the mainstream hospital system. “Because dialysis patients use health services more than anybody else on the planet. Dialysis is three times a week for the rest of your life – and we don’t have dialysis in Perth. All our resources for dialysis and nurses go out bush, so having a social support place in Perth and it being somewhere that people feel comfortable and safe and valued is really important to us.” Making a start One of the barriers to achieving this plan, Ms Brown said, is that real estate in Perth doesn’t come cheap. “It can seem like a big elephant, but how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We’re going to start nibbling on an ear and see how we go,” she said. “We’ll be doing lots of things. We know there’s lots of people who’ve heard the Purple House story and are keen to help in some way. And, of course, we need some money, but also sharing the story with friends and family helps us out amazingly,” Ms Brown said. “We will be writing submissions and looking at what organisations and corporates might like to support us, but we’re starting a little fund to chuck donations in so we can make a start on it.” Find out more about the fundraising drive here. Read other stories for executives here Follow Australian Ageing Agenda on LinkedIn and Facebook, sign up to our twice-weekly newsletter and subscribe to AAA magazine for the complete aged care picture