Our CARE Sanctuary will provide a therapeutic space for people of all ages to interact with, and enjoy, animals and a productive garden.

What is the CARE Sanctuary

CARE stands for: Community garden, Animals, Relationships and Education.

It’s our mission to build community cohesion and improve wellbeing through positive engagement with animals, gardens and education. The CARE Sanctuary was funded by the Victorian government’s Pick My Project initiative, which saw the Yackandandah community vote for this as one of two important projects for the town.

Human-animal interaction has been shown to improve physical, social and mental health for people of all ages. Many of Yackandandah Health’s aged care residents come from farming backgrounds. Leaving farms and animals to move to residential care can be associated with trauma, loss and grief.

The CARE Sanctuary will connect our older residents to others in the community and to a garden and animals they can help care for. This gives them a meaningful outdoor activity that contributes to their physical wellbeing and establishes connections with other people. It will also be used by children in our Little Yacks Childcare Centre.