As we are one of the schools founded by the Sisters of Mercy, we choose each year for our ‘Mercy Day’ fundraising efforts to go to charities supported or ‘founded’ by the Sisters of Mercy.

This year our School Fun Run fundraising will go to Catherine House and Carrington Cottages.

Catherine House was founded in 1988 by the sisters of Mercy to address an unmet need for women experiencing homelessness in Adelaide. Originally supported by the South Australian Housing Authority and the City of Adelaide, Catherine House opened with just 12 rooms. In subsequent years, their vital organisation has grown and refined its model, and is now recognised as South Australia’s only recovery – based service for women experiencing homelessness.

In 1989 Housing SA approached the Adelaide Sisters of Mercy to take over the two Carrington Street 19th century heritage listed terrace houses owned by the SA Housing Trust, which were being used as a boarding house. Sr Betty Schonfeldt OAM was appointed Administrator and remained as Administrator for twenty-five years, retiring in 2014. Over this long period of selfless service, Sr Betty provided accommodation and practical support for many hundreds of men in difficult economic circumstances.

Carrington Cottages is a registered not-for-profit association that provides over 100 rooms for men, women and couples who have been rough sleeping in Adelaide. They believe that everyone has a right to a home of their own, but that some people need safe, secure transitional housing to live in while they work with support services to deal with the issues that made them homeless.

Their residents stay with them for three months to a year. They say to all new residents that their ambition is to find them a place of their own, where they can live fully independently.

If you would like to find out more about these charities, please click on the links below: