Karinya’s success story

By Kath Gannaway
MOVING into Karinya Village is the start of a new and exciting phase of life for Beryl Miller.
Mrs Miller, who has lived at Millgrove for 17 years, has moved into one of three modern, new units at Karinya Village, a community housing project for aged pensioners at Yarra Junction.
Having reached a point in her life where she could no longer manage a large block of land, Mrs Miller said Karinya was a wonderful opportunity to stay in the area she loves and to make new friends.
Karinya is a little-known success story of how a community looks after its elders.
It began in 1975 when the Upper Yarra Social Services Committee built four units on a hillside block just out of the town.
Rotary took over management of the project in 1985 and some stalwarts, such as committee president Rick Houlihan and secretary Val Woodman, keep the now 17 unit community in good shape.
Units are available to aged pensioners living within the old Shire of Upper Yarra boundaries or who have had children living in the area for some time.
“The whole philosophy is one of maintaining independence and enjoying a good quality of life. People live life here rather than simply existing.
“They are a lovely bunch of peopler here and we like to give a few little extras they may not have had.”
It took the committee 10 years to raise the money for the new units which cost $380,000, including $38,000 in GST – considerably more than the last lot which cost $55,000 to build in 1996.
The committee has plans for another eight units at Karinya.
Meanwhile, one of the new units is still available and Mr Houlihan would be happy to hear from anyone interested in joining the Karinya community.
He can be contacted on 5967 3499.