Refuge: shelter or protection from danger or distress.
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The Merriam-Webster definition encapsulates the fundamental purpose of traditional women's refuges.
Betty's Place at Albury has been that life-saving haven for women and children since the early 1970s.
It is named after a resident considered "one of Albury-Wodonga's most influential women in the late 20th century".
By nature a battler and a stirrer, Betty McLean fought tenaciously for years to improve the lot of disadvantaged women on the Border, journalist and author Howard Jones wrote of her passing in 2014.
Betty and her husband Bob began their efforts by accommodating women in their own home before helping to establish the district's first refuge.
The roots of this safe haven run deep in the community.
And beloved though its history, Betty's Place has become somewhat ragged around the edges; its communal living quarters now considered out-dated in the modern world of trauma-informed crisis accommodation.
The 1930s building, owned by the Lands and Housing Corporation, has "extremely high maintenance and utilities costs", reveals a brief prepared for Yes Unlimited in March 2021.
Failing electrical systems and ancient plumbing add to the woes of a cramped office space, shared facilities and the strain such living dynamics place on traumatised women and children
The specialist homelessness agency recently embarked on an ambitious $3 million-plus redevelopment plan for the women's refuge.
It would see Betty's Place re-shaped into a 'core and cluster' model, offering self-contained units with on-site staff and supports in a central multi-purpose building.
Yes Unlimited client services manager Jon Park says the model provides more fitting crisis accommodation for families in trauma.
"It will also increase our capacity to house more people in safety, privacy and with dignity," he adds.
In 2015 the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended all communal refuges be replaced with "core and cluster" models.
In NSW, The Orchard at Orange was the first purpose-built model of this type in the state, opening in November 2020.
Run by Housing Plus, The Orchard is many things.
First and foremost, it is a haven for women and children escaping violence.
The six 2-bedroom apartments are arranged in duplexes equipped for families.
The design of the apartments provides flexibility for larger families with interlocking doors that also enable the duplex to become a 1-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartment or one large 4-bedroom apartment.
The units are modern and open plan with private backyards and access to larger outdoor spaces, including a sensory playground for children.
The "core" complex includes consulting rooms, audio-visual equipment for court appearances, a wellness retreat, a crèche, a kitchen with dual appliances for cookery demonstrations, barbecue area and a healing room for Aboriginal women.
"We have listened to the ideas and suggestions of victims, our local key stakeholders, our staff and our Aboriginal Elders in developing this design," its mission statement explains.
"Apartments face one another, CCTV surveillance surrounds the property, security lighting and staffing 24/7 are just some of the security features.
"But The Orchard is, of course, more than just bricks and mortar; it is fundamentally about people."
Housing Plus CEO David Fisher says the project, three years in the making, provided the opportunity to "raise the standard and reduce the stigma" of a typical refuge.
"Our women and children deserve to have a wonderful place to recover and to feel safe," he says.
"It's one of the reasons for the name - we didn't like the language around words like 'refuge' and 'crisis'.
"'The Orchard' reflects the journey of our clients, which is one of recovery and growth."
The number of incidents of domestic violence at Orange is nearly double the state average, Mr Fisher explains.
And the city did not have a refuge.
That was the catalyst for action by the community, which has taken "real ownership" of The Orchard, including hosting an annual fundraising ball, according to Mr Fisher.
"It's progressed from awareness and fundraising to engagement with volunteer support," he says.
"In turn our families feel supported by the wider community - not isolated away from it."
The Orchard caters for 72 families to be assisted each year.
Typically women and children stay for 12 weeks "but they are never forced to leave and the transition is done at the pace of the individual", Mr Fisher assures.
As victims recover, they have a base to return to and receive education and support, he adds.
At the heart of this trauma-informed model is the aim to make women more resilient and less likely to return to a perpetrator.
Yes Unlimited wants this flagship model for Albury.
Mr Park says it's the best of both worlds - the communal benefits of onsite support and safety coupled with the privacy and "dignity" of self-contained living.
Like Orange, Yes Unlimited wants to encourage the wider Albury-Wodonga community to maintain its grassroots ownership of Betty's Place and to have a say in its future.
A $1 million community fundraiser is inviting individuals and businesses to lend their support to the Making Betty's Better campaign.
Because, as Yes Unlimited chief Di Glover points out, family violence is "everyone's business".
Betty and Bob McLean certainly made it their business nearly 50 years ago.
"Women have had a pretty raw deal through life," Betty once remarked.
That those words still ring so devastatingly true in today's DV statistics should be motivation enough to stand with Betty.
- If you're experiencing family violence, 24/7 help is available: 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
Show your support!
- If you want to support the Making Betty's Better project, contact Michelle Milligan, Community Engagement co-ordinator: 0400 107 001 or communityengagement@yesunlimited.com.au
- To find out more about The Orchard: www.housingplus.com.au/about-us/current-projects/orchard/