Odyssey House Visit.

Today I was privileged to visit Odyssey House which is a residential rehabilitation centre on the outskirts of Melbourne. AQA supply them with quilts for their clients when they reach the "transition" stage where they are ready to return to their communities.
      I attended a meeting where a client was presented with a quilt as was his young daughter. It just happened to be the quilt above which I had quilted. It was very moving to hear from some of the clients as they acknowledged how the person had helped them with their recovery and then from the client who was transitioning as he acknowledged everyone who had helped him with his recovery. His daughter wrapped herself in her quilt and she was obviously happy that her father was returning home again. The quilt is a tangible symbol of how far they had come on their journey and a reminder that they don't want to go back to their previous life. The counselor who was showing me around said that he still has his quilt in pride of place at home.
   Odyssey House has been operational now for 40 years and they offer residential care for 120 at a time, including some families . They provide a much needed service and it was lovely to hear first hand how our quilts are so well received. One of the clients told us that he's due to graduate through the transition stage next year and he's hoping for a red quilt. 
     There was a real positive vibe about the place and a real feeling of hope for the future. I enjoyed my visit very much and hope to return again while in the meantime it has spurred me on to make more quilts to donate. AQA supply the majority of the quilts but I donate any needed at short notice and I plan on making some with reference to the aboriginal heritage of some of the clients, as they are highly prized by those clients.
It's always rewarding to see how much our quilts are appreciated by so many people and the warm hug of a quilt is a lovely way to support our local community members in need. I  can't believe that we are almost at the start of December and need to get some more sewing done for the Peter Mac auxiliary shop .
Hugs, Jan Mac