00:08 [Colleen] Helen Delaney said to me,
00:10 "I found a name for the organization.", and I said
00:14 "Oh good!" And I said "What is it?" She said "MacKillop."
00:18 And I said "Well, you get no argument from me,"
00:22 and then she said to me, "You know she's not yours now...
00:27 She belongs to us all."
00:38 [Jenny] The story of the formation of
00:39 MacKillop Family Services, begins in the early 1990s
00:43 when seven leaders, of seven agencies
00:46 based in Melbourne and Geelong,
00:49 that were run by the Sisters of Mercy,
00:51 the Sisters of St Joseph, and the Christian Brothers
00:54 decided that there must be a better way to provide services
00:59 to children and families. At the same time,
01:02 the ladies of the three congregations were also trying
01:06 to discern a way for the future
01:08 to ensure that services were provided in the best way.
01:13 [Brian] It was something good that been growing
01:15 for sometime, a lot of people were talking the possibilities
01:19 but how was it going to happen. So any uncertainty
01:22 at that stage creates a lot of fear and anxiety,
01:27 so, that was one of the things we had to overcome.
01:31 [Colleen] But it was lots of fear.
01:33 It was very difficult for many of the sisters,
01:38 but in their hearts, they knew,
01:41 and they wanted the word to continue so they knew,
01:46 and they were large hearted people.
01:48 [Kath] That I suppose a fight within yourself,
01:51 are for the greater good you got to let go,
01:53 and in the letting go, you gotta trust.
01:55 And my whole life, as a Sister of Mercy
01:58 has been about trust.
02:00 [David] I believe the three major spirits at that time
02:03 didn't know how MacKillop would end up.
02:07 But they took a chance, they took a step, into the future.
02:11 [Colleen] I can remember the first meeting we went to
02:14 and the three groups were there, and how uneasy we all were
02:21 about laying our cards on the table, I suppose,
02:24 but it was the collaboration, and the generosity
02:29 and the openness of each of those congregations
02:34 that was just a wonderful, wonderful experience really,
02:38 and we trusted each other.
02:40 [Kath] And it was an extraordinary thing
02:43 because seven agencies coming together, normally would vie
02:46 for a bit of this and a bit of that
02:47 but the good will and the courage that was there
02:50 to say, 'I will handover, I will get out of the way
02:54 to make this happen', was leadership, at the very best.
03:00 [David] I think in the discussions between
03:02 a member of the Mercy order, a member of
03:04 the Christian Brothers, a member of the Josephites,
03:07 we discovered, there wasn't much difference.
03:12 It was all around empowering the disadvantaged
03:18 and helping them reach, especially children
03:21 reach their capabilities.
03:25 [Kath] A vision for success at that time, would be
03:30 that the children and the families,
03:33 had a better life than they had with us individually,
03:36 and when a say a better life... in every sense of the word.
03:40 [Colleen] The key focus would be always,
03:42 the children and their families. It was never about us,
03:47 it was always about the people we were serving.
03:51 [David] And I think that's why
03:53 MacKillop's been successful. People were clear about
03:57 why they were coming together.
04:00 [Jenny] Creating MacKillop Family Services
04:02 was extraordinary. For seven organizations,
04:05 and three religious congregations to come together
04:09 with a shared vision, required each person to have courage,
04:14 to have trust, to have hope and to have a vision
04:18 for the future. This was truly about creating something new
04:23 that could live on for generations.
04:26 [Brian] I think the founding story, is really a story
04:30 of courage and collaboration.
04:34 [David] MacKillop is an example of an organization
04:38 that arose out of a common understanding of a need.
04:44 [Kath] Over the years, I've stayed involved with MacKillop
04:47 and I'm immensely proud of what's happened,
04:50 and it’s...by far exceeded my expectations, by far.
04:54 And we can say the legacy, that we were handing over
04:58 at the time from the sisters, is alive and well and blooming
05:03 and it’s just wonderful.
05:05 [Colleen] MacKillop Family Services today, I believe,
05:08 is writing the next chapters of the story, and I hope
05:15 I know, that the spirit will live on.