NEW South Wales’ first aged care home for older Muslims has officially opened.
Gallipoli Home, a 102-bed facility in Auburn in Sydney’s west, is specially designed for Islamic seniors from more than 10 different cultural communities including Turkish, Lebanese and Indian.
The $33 million home was developed for the wave of migrants who started arriving in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s.
Staff here will speak Turkish, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu to cater for the residents’ needs. Gallipoli Home also makes an effort to hire recent Middle Eastern refugees to take advantage of their language and cultural knowledge.
It boasts 82 single rooms and 10 double rooms, an atrium, reception, lounge, communal facilities, a café, village shops with halal foods, wellness centre, and underground car park.
Furniture, linen, crockery and fittings are culturally familiar, along with specific religious requirements including prayer rooms, and residential areas to allow men and women to meet separately.
The facility also holds Islamic events for residents, such as their Eid Al-Adha celebration in August to mark the festival of sacrifice.
Gallipoli Home’s official opening was held on October 14 to mark the day the first group of migrant workers arrived in Sydney from Turkey in 1968.
“Designed to be culturally sensitive to the Islamic community, Gallipoli Home is a state-of-the art, purpose-built, aged care home that fuses modern architecture with Turkish, Indigenous Australian, and Islamic art,” said Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt at the opening
“We want all senior Australians – regardless of where they are born – to live a socially connected life.”
Details – www.gallipolihome.org.au
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