KILDONAN UNITINGCARE

Moved by the despair they saw across Melbourne, two stalwarts of the Presbyterian Church, Miss Sulina Sutherland and Miss Maria Armour established the Scot's Church Neglected Children's Aid Society to provide residential care for homeless and or neglected children. Since 1881 what is now known as Kildonan UnitingCare been an integral part of the social fabric of Victoria. After the prosperity of the gold rush era diminished, the number of homeless and neglected children rose sharply. The o... rganisation has continued to grow and evolve over time. It was later established as Kildonan Child and Family Services but in 2007 became known as Kildonan UnitingCare. In 2006, Hope Springs and Preston Creative Living Centre merged with Kildonan. The services provided by these agencies increased the diversity of services offered and strengthened Kildonan's links with local communities. In 2014, Kildonan merged with a sister agency, UnitingCare Cutting Edge, again expanding its services and increasing its reach to encompass inner and north-western Melbourne through to north regional Victoria.The organisation is part of one of Australia's largest welfare networks, UnitingCare Australia, which represents welfare agencies of the Uniting Church. For more than 130 years they have been demonstrating their ability to pre-empt social trends and respond with programs and services that help people improve their circumstances.