WHITE STONE CARE Launches its First Program

White Stone Care is a not for profit organisation that has been established to address the growing need for addiction recovery services in our community, and is working towards establishing a recovery centre targeting the specific needs of people suffering from addiction.

A team of qualified professionals from a mix of professions that will facilitate the running of the White Stone Care programs, includes psychologists, educators, social workers, spiritual advisors, and community volunteers. White Stone Care will assist individuals in maintaining long-term sobriety from their past addictive behaviours, repair family relationships, build life and work skills, significantly lower hospitalisation and crime rates, and be a significant positive contribution to the Australian society.

In a direct response to a major social and human need, White Stone Care recently launched their first program, the Family Support Program. Based in Harris Park, the program will provide:

• Family Counselling for individuals and couples affected by addiction
• Referral and Advocacy Services
• Children’s Support Program
• Group Support Programs  and Counselling
• Community Education Programs about drugs, alcohol, gambling and their  impact
• Volunteer Programs
• Visitation Programs
• Spiritual Ministry and community support
• Respite programs

Launching this program on Saturday 23 May 2015 at a Thanksgiving Mass, Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay said:

“This project presents a significant undertaking, but we are confident that we are not alone. We are relying on Divine Providence, and as St Teresa of Avila, one of the great Doctors of the Church, writes:

Christ has no hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
with compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.”

The Family Support Program is now available for those families in need.

When speaking about the future plans of such programs, White Stone Care Chairperson Sr. Rose Therese Tannous explained:

“The second approach will be to establish a long-term residential retreat centre that will accommodate and treat individuals in an intensive holistic program by addressing their physical, psychological, intellectual and spiritual needs.”

The White Stone Care Retreat Centre is part of the Kadisha Mission project. In the coming years, the planned centre is to be built on a property in Bilpin, which will also include a spiritual centre and an outdoor area for church groups and families to visit and spend some time in recollection, reflection and prayer.

Caring for families and trying to alleviate some of the pressing social problems in our community are key priorities that have been identified by Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, as part of the Maronite Diocesan Pastoral Plan for the seven years 2014 to 2020.