After two years of construction, The Salvation Army welcomes residents who could be at risk of homelessness at the new Salvos Housing in Chermside. The beautiful facility is funded by philanthropist Doug Cory.
The Cory Centre, located at the former Glenhaven complex, is a three-storey apartment with 21 two-bedroom units and five three-bedroom units for single parents with kids or families of vulnerable households. It has its own basketball and tennis court, a rebound wall, vegetable and flower gardens, a children’s playground, a common room indoors, and a library.
The Salvos Housing in Chermside was designed as a contemporary residential complex that blends well with its neighbours. It is meant to be an inner sanctuary where the kids can enjoy their childhood.
Mr Cory donated $5.5 million so that The Salvation Army can rebuild the Glenhaven complex for families. The businessman will never forget how the Salvos helped him, his eight siblings, and his single mum, Irene, when their family arrived in Brisbane.
Before this complex became a women’s centre, it was a motel with 13 units. In 1988, the Salvos bought the property for its charitable work.
Mr Lambert said the housing complex will no longer be called Glenhaven.
“Internally, we’ve been calling it the Cory Centre because of the donor’s relationship with the project but there hasn’t been a designated name for it,” Tim Lambert, the Army’s senior development manager with the property department in Queensland, said.
“If you are an average person with an average job and you’re walking down an average street…you couldn’t tell the difference between us and anyone else. You should be able to live in the same street and have the same rules and show the same respect as everyone else. It’s meant to be a true blended community.
“It will have a mixture of men and women and it’s not a women’s crisis centre. It’s not a domestic abuse centre. It certainly will have people who have suffered all those things, but there will be enough separation and security for people coming out of those situations … but will have the ability to feel safe and secure within the complex itself.”