Cardinal Stepinac Village

THE AUSTRALIAN CROATIAN "CARDINAL STEPINAC" ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

24-32 Runcorn Street , St.Johns Park 2176 NSW Australia , Phone:02 9823 3855 , Fax:02 9610 6690 , e-mail:cardinalstepinacvill@bigpond.com

Living style

The residents of the Hostel, Nursing Home and emmergency care rooms, live in a relaxing atmosphere where they enjoy a variety of domestic animals, a vegetable garden, numerous activities and community involvement. Every resident in the hostel has his own private unit comprising of bedroom-sitting room, ensuite and balcony, with access to a fully equipped kitchen and in house laundry. Both the hostel and the nursing home are very spacious and been designed with resident's comfort, homelike atmosphere and appearance in mind.The Croatian community is very diversified in their cultural life style and their cuisine. For a small European nation it is very interesting to find such diversity. This is also typical in Croatian climate as well as in its geographical composition.

Cardinal Stepinac Village is in a very real sense a small town beaming with activities throughout the year. We share our days with people from all walks of life and from both Australian & Croatian origin. The list of village patrons and benefactors includes our NSW premiers and politicians, Australian catholic leaders as well as Croatian religious and community leaders. The residents, their families and the staff have a constant interaction and share their appreciation of the cultural richness of both Croatia and Australia . We visit other villages and exchange staff visits and share education and other joint interests.

Cardinal Stepinac Village was built by the community to provide quality care and housing to the aged. Most staff at the village speak both English and Croatian. The food, daily activities and social and religious life is closely linked to the Croatian catholic life style. By looking after the aged in an environment specifically created with their religious & cultural needs in mind, the residents of the Cardinal Stepinac village are able to maintain their very close links with their faith and their customs. The village promotes and encourages close family links in all aspects of the residents activities and needs.Although the Cardinal Stepinac village is an ethno specific aged care provider for the Australian Croatian community, the village does admit residents from different national origins when possible. By looking after the aged of our community we free the needed places in the mainstream aged care facilities and also improve the lifestyle of the many aged who have forgotten or lost their capacity to communicate in their second language English.

Catholic life style

The common thread which links the many Croatian regions is the religious devotion to the catholic church primarily but also a sense of tolerance towards other faiths, that is why in Croatia there are more other religious entities than in most other neighboring countries.

In Cardinal Stepinac Village the daily routine of our residents is guided by our faith and our customs. This is not to say that we do not respect the customs, religious practices and lifestyle of other cultures found in Australia . We very much respect and participate in the Australian mainstream activities and we respect the rights of all our residents irrespective of their origin. We also take great pride in our new homeland and in the village we demonstrate our fidelity to Australia , like the thousands of Australian small town folk in the country regions do, by doing something collectively for the good of the community.

Activities

The daily village activities and the annual plan for activities are composed of the following factors;

* Cultural customs and activities
* Religious customs and activities
* Mainstream activities & external activities
* Community linked activities

Here we have many varied activities in the village trying to give the residents a sense of achievement and of keeping them active, knitting, ceramics, pottery, table top ceramics, gardening, games-bingo, cards, bowls, billiards, balloon games, shuffle, ball games.

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