History of the Kura Yerlo Centre
The premises currently occupied by the Kura Yerlo centre used to be run by the Sisters of St Joseph as the St Joseph's Orphanage.
The St Joseph's Orphanage
Established in 1903, the St Joseph's orphanage was the second orphanage to be managed by the Sisters of St Joseph. It began as a sanatorium or rest home for women and children needing respite and 'the benefits of sea air'. The first building had eight rooms and an ocean view and soon became very popular. Due to the demand for accommodation the institution moved to a larger premises on the Esplanade near the Largs Bay jetty in 1906. Although the home continued for a time to accommodate women, the sisters began to concentrate on its role as an orphanage for boys and girls from infancy to school leaving age. By 1908 even the larger building was becoming overcrowded so a cottage on an adjoining lot was purchased. In 1910 sixty-two children were being cared for in the orphanage and by 1912 the sisters were running out of room for the numbers of children being referred to them. Over the next few years a number of additions were made to the building, including a schoolroom in 1912 and a kitchen and laundry in 1917.
Largs Bay Orphanage, Courtesy Adelaide Catholic Archdiocesan Archives
In 1941, after the arrival of Archbishop Matthew Beovich in Adelaide, the focus of the Orphanage changed. The Archbishop arranged for all the older boys from the orphanages at Goodwood and Largs Bay to be placed at Brooklyn Park under the care of the Brothers of St John the Baptist and later the Salesians of Don Bosco. All girls were moved to the St Vincent de Paul orphanage and St Joseph's took charge of boys aged between three and twelve.
During the 1960s the home accommodated up to sixty boys under the care of seven nuns. At that time . the institution was also known as the Junior Boys Home. Boys were accommodated in three dormitories, divided by their age. They were educated at a kindergarten and school run by three resident registered school teachers. They also received religious instruction from the resident Chaplain.
From 1969 a small number of girls were admitted and one of the dormitories was set aside for their use. The home then became known as St Joseph's Children's Home. During 1973-1974 the original building was converted into four self-contained group units, each accommodating eight children between the ages of two and fifteen. Each group was cared for by a house-mother. Three of the units had the capacity to house two extra children in an emergency. During the 1970S children remained in the home for periods ranging between three weeks and three years. While resident they attended local schools. Until its closure at the end of 1980 St Josephs continued to provide unit style accommodation for children from infancy to seventeen years of age.
Drawn from Marie Therese Foale, “Think of the Ravens: The Sisters of St Joseph in Social Welfare” (The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Inc. Kent Town, 2001), p21-24.
The Kura Yerlo Centre
In January 1983 a small group of people met to discuss the needs of the Port Adelaide Largs Bay Aboriginal Community in the areas of Childcare, Youth, Aged Care and Health and Fitness, with a view to opening a general purpose Community Centre.
Out of this meeting it was decided to target four main groups of Aboriginal people; traditional, fringe, country, and urban populations. The above groups have some common needs such as housing, legal rights, medical services and employment, but each has fairly distinctive lifestyles which have to be recognized when planning for a Community Centre. The urban people have a good grasp of Government departments and how they function and also of what is required of them to access certain essential and appropriate services. Not so the other groups.
The common theme was that every Aboriginal person at the time was facing racial discrimination in areas of housing, employment, education and high rates of imprisonment and this was the motivation behind establishing the programs we presently run e.g. Childcare, Youth, Fitness & Health, Gym, Kararrendi Disability program, to allow people a break from the household and be given some opportunity to find employment, training or education.
The first major hurdle was to find suitable premises for the Centre and this was a very protracted affair with opposition coming from the local council of the day and some of the non-Aboriginal Community in Largs Bay. The Sisters of St Joseph were the only group to approve a ten year lease in July 1985, with a review after the first three years.
Funds were urgently sought by the Committee to operate an office, employ staff and write submissions to the appropriate Government Departments for financial support. Many Departments adopted a "wait and see" attitude, others accepted applications but did not take matters any further.
Childcare received the backing of the Commonwealth Government in 1987/88 and this was the real starting point of Kura Yerlo with a License from the State Education Department for thirty children under the age of five.
It wasn't long after this that the Aged Care Program was established and the rent charged from these two programs, coupled with the monies received from private trusts/ organizations, helped in the establishing of an office with a full time Coordinator and Secretary.
A grant from Australian Catholic Relief of $25,000 helped maintain the position of Director for a period of three years finishing in November 1989.
While it has been a long and hard battle to establish the Centre, in 1989, it had a Youth Worker, (Jane Howard Trust QEH), Horne and Community (Department of Community Welfare), Women's fitness Coordinated by volunteer Art Teachers who have supplied some basic equipment for the Community's use.