Emmaus Village, which has been 16 years in the planning, officially opened in May 2024, with 14 residents already living in their new home, designed in accordance with the famous the Hogeweyk model of dementia care.
St Agnes' Catholic Parish first conceived the idea in 2008 to meet a need for dementia care in the community of Port Macquarie, on the mid-north coast of NSW, nearly 400km north of Sydney. The area has one of the highest rates of dementia in Australia.
With assistance from the founders of The Hogeweyk, Emmaus Village has been designed to contain 12 'small homes' and have a total capacity of 94 residents.
Also in line with the Hogeweyk model of care, residents will be involved in daily activities, replicating as much as possible their former day-to-day routines.
Residents will be grouped together according to their interests and backgrounds, and occupancy increased slowly to ensure a smooth transition.
Construction began in 2022 with builders Paynters. There were challenges and delays on the way, and the build cost more than expected. However, the project did not have to compromise on the Hogeweyk model.
On site are a hair salon, corner store, cafe, cinema, wellness centre, chicken coops, and garden potting shed.
An Open Day on 1 June 2024 attracted more than 700 visitors, indicating a strong level of interest in the community.
Glenview Community Services’ Korongee Dementia Village at Glenorchy, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, which opened in July 2020, is also based on a small household dementia care model.
Emmaus Village was made possible by $5 million in funding from the NSW Government in October 2020 and $6.5 million from the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund in 2021.
