80 Years of Care
In 2024, BaptistCare celebrates 80 years of care. Our history is our people and their legacy.
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Our history is our people and their legacy
In 2024, BaptistCare celebrates 80 years of care. Our history is a rich tapestry of our people, their stories, and experiences, and we bear witness to their heart for serving others.
It was the 1940s, post-war Australia when a group of Baptists in NSW began responding to social change under the Baptist Homes Trust. A kindred ministry - Baptist Homes Board - was established on the West Coast in the early 1970s, in response to the need for suitable accommodation and nursing care for the elderly.
Acutely conscious of Jesus’ call to care for the aged, the sick, the orphaned, and the poor, these Baptist entities took similar pathways, as accommodation and nursing care for older people captured the hearts and attention of early Baptist pioneers on both coasts.
Sharing humble beginnings, names and values that closely align, in 2023 BaptistCare NSW & ACT and Baptistcare WA successfully merged to be celebrated as one of the largest not-for-profit care providers in Australia.
Tune in for the stories we’ll share over the coming months as we celebrate 80 years of care.
Early Milestones
With hard work, passion, and a heart for others, BaptistCare began creating places of hope, with housing and affordable accommodation options for those most vulnerable in our communities, with our early milestones including:
80 Years of Care: Our Legacy
Over the decades, BaptistCare has evolved. While we started out to transform lives by expressing the love of Jesus, it’s the same mission we maintain today. And we do so by placing people at the centre of every activity.
Our services extend across residential aged care, retirement living, home care, and a range of community services, including affordable housing, no-interest loans, advocacy and support for women and children escaping domestic violence.
Today, 80 years on, we walk alongside more than 25,000 people, supporting them to live well across more than 100 locations in NSW, ACT and WA. More than 6,000 employees and 600 volunteers are proud to carry on the legacy of BaptistCare.
Community Services & Housing Milestones
Family services, housing and disability support have always been at the forefront of everything we do in our community. Even in the earliest of days, counselling and family services were in action from the outset, including:
Bringing hope to our communities
Putting faith into action, HopeStreet began in the 1980s in one of Sydney’s most vulnerable neighbourhoods, Woolloomooloo. In 2014, HopeStreet’s programs transitioned to BaptistCare to ensure the continuation of this vital service.
BaptistCare was already providing a similar model in their communities across the state, and has since expanded the urban service, known for delivering care to where it’s most needed.
BaptistCare HopeStreet continues to be a trusted place in some of the most vulnerable communities, with 14 locations across NSW, offering hope to people living with disadvantage and distress.
Our History Books
Throughout our 80 years of care, we have developed a rich and interesting history from the early formative years to the extensive legacy we share today across NSW, ACT and WA.
These achievements have been captured in the texts below:
Watch the history we captured in this 75th Anniversary video
