Little rays of sunshine will soon brighten the lives of families living with the effects of eating disorders, courtesy of a ground-breaking community-based support centre in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Coast charity endED bought a nine-bedroom home on just over a hectare in Woombye in December 2020 and has almost completed creating its House of Hope vision.
The welcoming Queenslander-style house, its adjoining Peaceful Park, the yoga deck overlooking the whole property, a meandering rock stream and waterfall are already offering tranquil “spaces of connection” for people with eating disorders and their loved ones.
House of Hope also acts as a central facility where allied health personnel, recovery coaches and volunteers can give clients extra layers of professional guidance and support.
A community cafe (repurposed from an existing garage workshop) and walking tracks through the rainforest at the back of the property will soon be part of the project.
endED, founded by Mark and Gay Forbes and honoured as the 2019 Sunshine Coast Charity of the Year, aims to develop the property as a true community asset, encouraging use by other mental health-focused organisations and members of the public.
Towards that aim, the upcoming Community Dusk Concert from 5-8pm on February 1 will feature live acoustic music by Tahlia Connie, from Self Of Love, and Mayah Song around a bonfire and shared dinner experience (book via trybooking).
In another wholistic-care initiative, sunflowers with their own incredible story will bloom in waist-high garden beds from about January to March each year in Peaceful Park to put a smile on the faces of visitors from far and wide.
“Seeds of Hope” – third–generation seeds taken from the fields where flight MH17 was gunned down over Eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 – were planted in a special New Year’s Eve event last week.
Sunshine Coast resident Matt Horder, who lost both his parents on that flight in a global tragedy that claimed the lives of 283 passengers and 15 crew, brought the sunflower seeds home and helped with the Peaceful Park planting.
“Matt Horder has been a friend of ours and we’ve been involved with him for quite a number of years,” Mr Forbes said of the generous gift.
“Then he lost both of his parents on that MH17 flight. When we had the endED café running (now closed, at Buddina), I got Matt to come down and give a talk about the journey and he talked about these seeds.
“We had that planting ceremony and the sunflowers have already popped their heads up. They’re growing.
“One of our lived experience girls said to us the other day when we were planting them: ‘Do you know what I love about them? If there’s no sun, they turn to each other. That signifies what we do. When we’re feeling down, we turn to each other’.
“When we harvest our own seeds, we’ll put them in little packets with a story attached and I’ve asked Matt to draft up what that story looks like.
“We’re going to put a plaque on the bed with the story, so everyone e who comes through can take some seeds with them.”
Due to its continued success in supporting people in overcoming the effects of ED, endED aims to take the House of Hope model of care and support further afield.
“We’ve just put in an application for funding to the federal government,” Mr Forbes said.
“We’ve applied for $2 million over four years and part of that grant will be that we design a template around what we do.
“We have identified a couple of other areas in Australia and, if we get some funding, in the next 12, 24 or 36 months, we will help other areas roll out our model of care.”
While initially created as part of the transition back to the community for graduates of Wandi Nerida – The Butterfly Foundation’s Australian-first residential eating disorder facility at Mooloolah – Mr Forbes said House of Hope was now recognised for its own equally important role.
Wandi Nerida (originally known as endED Butterfly House) was founded by endED with the Forbes selling their own home to ensure the success of the venture.
The Woombye centre helps those on the waiting list for Wandi Nerida, families that can’t afford ED residential care, and others needing less-intensive levels of support.
Recovery coaches host regular Zoom sessions with individuals from all around Australia, while a series of educational podcasts – interviewing global ED professionals and medical experts, as well as patients and family members – have had over 150,000 downloads in 130 countries.
“If they’re in the Brisbane-to-Noosa region, they can access the House of Hope support groups,” Mr Forbes said.
“But we’ve had families move up from Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and stay for a couple of months on the Coast so their kids can be part of the House of Hope (experience).
“The first part of this year, we’re going to consolidate and have five of the rooms converted to support space. We’ll have allied health coming into the house.
“People wanting support can not only get support from our team, they can also book an appointment to see a psychologist, nutritionist or masseur that we recommend.
“The other four bedrooms we want to have as residential.
“So, for instance, if people do finish Wandi Nerida and they’re from Perth and they want support back in community, they can actually come and stay back at the House of Hope.”
Mr Forbes estimated 58,000 people on the Sunshine Coast alone were impacted directly by ED as an individual, friend, colleague or family member.
Lived experience was the key to helping them, he said.
“We employ nine lived experience recovery coaches. These are young ladies who have been through it and come out the other side,” Mr Forbes said.
“We put them through coaching courses or they come with their own credentials like majors in art and psychology.
“We’ve got about 40 volunteers on our books and the majority are lived experience. They’ll come in and teach pilates, yoga, music and sound therapy, sewing, pottery.
“When people walk into the House of Hope, it’s like a big old Queenslander. So, they feel very comfortable to start with. It’s not like ‘sit around a circle and tell your story’. It is: ‘How can we help you and what do you need?’.
“If you just want to sit and observe, that’s fine, too.
“It is a very soft approach. That’s what makes it very successful.”
For more, visit the endED Facebook page or website.
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