Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home (1951 - )

Lorna Hodgkinson was a psychologist and teacher of children with intellectual disabilities. She founded the Sunshine Institute in 1924. In 1951, Hodgkinson converted the Sunshine Institute to a not-for-profit organisation and transferred the management of her institute to a board of trustees. After she died the board renamed the institute the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home.

The Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home featured in The Australian Women's Weekly in September 1958, as part of a fund-raising drive. The article, 'Home for those who are always children', said the Home admitted children who were aged four and over and cared for them throughout their lives, into advanced old age. The home was described as catering to a range of intellectual people with disabilities, including those with Down Syndrome (described as 'mongols') and problems resulting from acquired brain injuries.

According to the Women's Weekly, the home was on 2 and a half acres of land. The staff included a female medical superintendent, who asked not to be named, and nurses and teachers. Fees were charged of between £6/6 and £8/8 a week, but the home undertook to keep the children permanently, even if the parents could no longer pay.

The care provided at Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home has changed in recent decades. In 2013 it was trading under the name Sunshine and provided community care, education and training programs and respite care for children and youth and other people with disabilities, as well as advocacy. Based at Pymble, it runs programs across Sydney and the Central Coast.

Location

1951 - 1990?

Location - Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home was situated on the Pacific Highway, Gore Hill. Location: Gore Hill

c. 1990 -

Address - Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home was situated at 6 West Street, Pymble. Location: Pymble