From surviving to thriving – new-look Bramwell House a positive pathway
Bramwell House is a residential centre in South Australia that supports women and children escaping family violence. The crisis accommodation service is undergoing changes to its facilities and programs, innovating the way it provides safety and case management for those who have experienced abuse. Salvos Online journalist ANTHONY CASTLE spoke with the new manager, Alex Joseph, about the changes at Bramwell House and how it offers not only an escape from violence but also a pathway to a new life.
Salvos Online: There are changes taking place at Bramwell House, including new accommodation spaces but also putting new specialists on site. How have you found the process, coming on board and overseeing so much change to the service?
Alex Joseph: I’ve been in the manager role now for eight months. I manage all the staff and volunteers, with a duty of care to clients, and work with our partnerships. I am a victim-survivor myself and bring that perspective to the work. It’s asking questions like, ‘Are the services that we are providing fitting in best practice? Are we providing clients a space to thrive?’
Parts of Bramwell House have been demolished to make way for more accommodation. Are the refurbishments just about increasing the rooms, or do they reflect other changes?
When victim-survivors come, we do intensive case management with specialist practitioners. We do safety planning, building capacity to be aware of danger, what to do what to do in an emergency. We are refurbishing the old Bramwell House to create better exit pathways for those who are moving on.
Instead of having to wait for housing trust, victim-survivors have a quicker exit strategy, and we can take in more. There is still case management for the women and children who have moved on, but it is less intensive than in the crisis model. They are now on their journey, so we want to empower them on a needs-only basis.
For many, everything falls apart when they leave a violent environment, so when they come to us, we consider goals with them, looking 12 months ahead. Instead of giving them directives, it’s a conversation about their journey.
You spoke before about giving victim-survivors the space to thrive. How do the new programs and specialist roles support that capacity building?
There’s very little understanding of what happens in crisis accommodation. People think it’s intense work, but it isn’t just about the crisis but the exit pathway too. We can have victim-survivors for up to 12 months, and we look at all parts of their life, their wellbeing, the justice sector, drugs and alcohol, we look at health, we look at children.
That’s the primary role of the child specialist, to provide therapeutic intervention and a platform for the children to talk about what they’ve witnessed. Let’s reconnect the children with school, making sure their hitting their developmental milestones. Now they’re in a safe environment, let’s put them back on track.
I’ve done a lot of work in the last six months, developing partnerships with the sector, asking what programs can I bring on site. If women aren’t able to leave, we have to bring certain things here. We are pet-friendly now, and we don’t make victim-survivors choose between safety and leaving a pet behind.
We have a health service that comes for check-ups, blood tests, pap smears. Bunnings comes on-site and runs workshops, something creative that taps into points of interest. We have a volunteer who runs a community group once a week, with a playgroup, activities, coffee and cake. It’s victim-survivors creating community, sharing about their journeys.
Change is often difficult. What impact do these changes to the service have in people’s lives?
I think it’s been an interesting time. I have to acknowledge there’s grief and loss around change, as things grow, but the change has been well-received. This is going in a good direction. The feedback has been well-received by The Salvation Army and the sector.
Sometimes, services can be providing victim-survivors with more isolation. It was around changing the mindset, aligning things with providing clients a space to thrive. They’ve left a hostile environment, so what can we do within our service to get them to a point where they can leave with independence? We have lots of clients who come back to visit and say thank you, to thank the place as a pivotal part of their journey.
