Milestone event draws high praise from federal treasurer
Jewish Care Victoria has marked the halfway point in the construction of The Hannah & Daryl Cohen Family Building.
Lorelle Krulis, Donna Cohen, Josh Frydenberg, Hannah Cohen and Tania Smorgon
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg MP, was the guest speaker at a function to mark the progress.
Politicians from all levels of government attended, including Frank McGuire MP representing Premier Daniel Andrews.
Senator for Victoria, James Paterson; Nina Taylor MP, Member for Southern Metropolitan Region; Josh Burns, Labor candidate for the seat of Macnamara; Kate Ashmor, Liberal candidate for the seat of Macnamara; David Southwick MP, Member for Caulfield, and Dick Gross, Mayor of the City of Port Philip were also in attendance.
Artist’s impression
Josh Frydenberg emphasised the importance of Jewish Care and The Hannah & Daryl Cohen Family Building in supporting the ageing community.
“Today is a milestone for Jewish Care,” said Josh Frydenberg. “The fact that this building is the contemporary vision of the original founders of Jewish Care is very special. A nine-storey building, seven of which are devoted to homes for senior citizens and the other two storeys for other essential services is a really modern vision for a communal organisation such as Jewish Care.”
President of Jewish Care Mike Debinski thanked all donors and supporters for “helping to realise this dream for our community. By supporting this and our other Capital Campaign projects, you are part of something truly historic and instrumental in shaping the future care of our community.”
Acknowledged at the event were Hannah Cohen and her daughters, Karen Gutman, Lorelle Krulis, Tania Smorgon and Donna Cohen who, in 2016, made what is believed to be the single-largest donation in the history of the Victorian Jewish community, gifting $5 million towards the construction of the building.
In naming the building, Jewish Care hopes to honour the late Daryl Cohen’s legacy of positively contributing to the Victorian Jewish community.
Presenting Hannah Cohen with the first-cut model of the building as a token of appreciation, Susie Ivany, Co-Chair of Jewish Care’s Capital Campaign Committee said, “You have truly enabled our dream, the dream of better serving and supporting the Victorian Jewish community for future generations, to become a reality.”
Due for completion in December 2019, The Hannah & Daryl Cohen Family Building is being built as part of Jewish Care’s ‘Growing. For our Community.’ Capital Campaign. The largest and most ambitious of the six developments, the $90 million, leading-edge building will feature seven levels of residential aged care and an additional two levels of essential community services.
To date, the incredible generosity of the Victorian Jewish community has helped to raise just under $24 million of a $30 million target towards the historic suite of six projects.
