Eagles CornerOur long term residential program provides opportunities for men determined to overcome life’s challenges. Transformation occurs in rebuilding trust, hope and relationships supported within a faith-based community, inspiring a better future as connected and contributing members of society.
In 2011 we began with an outreach to homeless and disadvantaged people in Melbourne supplying nutritious home-cooked meals in a welcoming space at Batman Park. Up to 60 attended and a sense of community was created through a shared meal, an art gallery, men’s shed and short courses.
The loss of four of this community to drug overdose prompted our search for a solution to this ever increasing social issue.
Through a mission to further reach and touch lives, the inspiration for Eagles Corner was born. A farmer within the greater Albury / Wodonga region saw the potential benefit to those in need and generously donated the use of his land.
Its close proximity to our residential property made it ideal to provide other experiences for Eagles Corner participants. This was a wonderful season in the Eagles Corner story.
During this time we began researching successful options for homelessness and recovery methods. The most influential were the Community model’s of San Patrignano in Italy and an Australian initiative in Perth – Shalom House. Through our live-in training and experience in both of these locations, we saw first-hand the success and positive influence that restorative communities have on individuals, families and the region as a whole.
Established over 30 years ago, the community at San Patrignano grew from one man’s efforts to provide a place of safety to a few people who were trying to get off drugs. San Patrignano is now home to 1,500 people living and working in a thriving recovery community.
San Patrignano claim they are ‘a community for life’ that welcomes those suffering from drug addiction and marginalization and helps them to once again find their way thanks to a rehabilitation program that is above all, a program based on love. It is free, ‘because love is a gift’.
San Pa’s therapeutic program is based on education and rehabilitation. Their belief is that the person is not considered afflicted by an “illness” and therefore, pharmacological treatments to combat drug abuse are not used. Instead physio-therapeutic and psychiatric interventions are implemented when deemed necessary, in order to treat specific individual problems.
This provided a good foundation for our Therapeutic Community model, but we needed to find a practical and financially sustainable way to implement these theories within an Australian context. Enter Shalom House ….
Shalom House’s approach is to offer a holistic rehabilitation program that focuses on bringing restoration to all areas of the resident’s life including finances, relationships, heart issues, employment, education and training for the future.
Their program is practical and hands on, ensuring that residents and all involved in Shalom are valued and contributing members of the community. They offer their services to anyone with a life-controlling issue, whether it be addiction to substances such as drugs and alcohol or people with anxiety, fear or emotional trauma.
