Kalyna Care

 Rooted in Heritage, Driven by Care

Culture, Compassion, and Accountability are Redefining What Ageing Can Look Like in Modern Australia.

Some places operate as institutions, and then there are places that feel like memory.

Walk through the doors of Kalyna Care in the western suburbs of Melbourne, and the difference is immediate. The sounds of multiple languages drift through hallways lined with photographs, religious icons, family keepsakes, and reminders of homes that once existed thousands of kilometres away. Somewhere, coffee is being served. Somewhere else, residents are singing at a concert in the hall. A resident smiles at a passing volunteer, while a nurse pauses mid-stride simply to listen. It does not feel clinical. It feels lived in.

That feeling, according to Facility Manager Jennifer Saberon- Ibanez, is not accidental. It is the result of decades of intentional work, cultural stewardship, and a philosophy that sees aged care not as an industry, but as a human obligation.

Established in 1984 as a home for members of Australia’s Ukrainian migrant community, Kalyna Care has grown into one of Victoria’s most culturally diverse not-for-profit aged care organisations. Today, it supports residents from dozens of ethnic backgrounds while maintaining the heritage that shaped its founding identity. The organisation describes itself as a “home away from home,” with a continuing emphasis on cultural familiarity, language, belonging, and dignity.

What makes Kalyna Care stand out, however, is not simply its history. It is the way that history continues to shape its future.

A Name That Carries Meaning

The name Kalyna comes from the viburnum flower, a symbol deeply embedded in Ukrainian folklore. Traditionally associated with beauty, resilience, and endurance, it has become a fitting emblem for an organisation built around continuity and care.

For Ibanez, the symbolism matters because the work itself is deeply emotional. After nearly two decades in aged care across New Zealand and Australia, she speaks with the measured clarity of someone who has seen the profession evolve and who still feels its emotional weight every day.

“Old people are part of us. There is love there, there is care there, but when they go, you feel that too,” Ibanez describes.

Kalyna Care currently accommodates approximately 146 residents, supported by a workforce of around 300 staff members, alongside volunteers from both local communities and overseas exchange programs. Residents have access to permanent aged care, respite services, dementia support, palliative care, and additional clinical programs like NDIS designed to respond to increasingly complex care needs.

Yet numbers only tell part of the story.

What distinguishes the facility, according to both staff and families, is the atmosphere of belonging. Residents are not managed according to rigid institutional schedules. Their choices, routines, cultural practices, and personal histories are incorporated into daily care planning. Meals reflect heritage. Religious observances are respected. Conversations happen in native languages where possible.

In a sector often criticised for depersonalisation, Kalyna has chosen a different model.

Building Community, Not Just Capacity

Aged care across Australia is under pressure. Workforce shortages, regulatory reforms, rising clinical complexity and changing family expectations have forced providers to rethink how they operate. Many organisations respond by scaling systems. Kalyna Care has responded by scaling relationships.

“Families are our care partners. They know things that can really help us provide the best care,” Ibanez relays.

That shift has become central to the organisation’s operating philosophy. Families participate in advisory groups, provide feedback on services, and help shape both individual care plans and broader resident experiences. Even in emotionally charged moments, particularly during end-of-life care, staff are trained not simply to deliver services, but to provide presence.

Listening, Ibanez says, is often the most important intervention.

This approach aligns with wider changes across Australia’s aged care reforms, where person-centred care and resident rights have become central regulatory priorities. Kalyna Care’s public materials reflect the same commitment, highlighting autonomy, dignity, cultural identity, and family inclusion as core values.

Growing with Purpose

Growth at Kalyna Care has not come through aggressive expansion, but through deliberate infrastructure investment.

Two years ago, the organisation opened a new residential wing capable of accommodating an additional forty residents. The expansion was not just about capacity. It was about creating environments better suited to contemporary aged care, particularly for residents living with memory loss or behavioural complexities.

Kalyna’s accommodation offerings now include modern en-suites, private garden-facing spaces, couples’ suites, and newly refurbished areas designed to feel more residential than institutional. The goal, according to the organisation, is comfort without compromise.

Internally, the facility continues to invest in kitchen upgrades, common spaces, and specialised memory support environments.

For Ibanez, however, bricks and mortar are only part of the equation.

Technology is increasingly embedded in care delivery, with digital clinical documentation platforms and medication systems helping staff track treatments, assessments, and compliance requirements more accurately.

“It helps us complete the process with structure. It keeps information safe, protected and helps us make sure care is delivered on time,” Ibanez notes.

At a time when aged care providers are balancing compassion with compliance, that integration has become essential.

The Human Cost of Compassion

For all its warmth, aged care remains one of healthcare’s most emotionally demanding environments.

Residents deteriorate. Families grieve. Staff form relationships that eventually end in loss. The work can be relentless, and retaining skilled carers has become one of the sector’s most persistent challenges.

Ibanez does not romanticise it.

“It’s a heavy profession. We are just trying our best to create joy,” Ibanez states.

Her focus, increasingly, is on staff development and retention. Younger workers from diverse cultural backgrounds enter aged care with formal qualifications, but practical resilience, emotional maturity, and cultural sensitivity take time to build. Supporting them through that process has become as important as supporting residents themselves.

Kalyna’s multicultural workforce reflects the communities it serves. Staff from across Europe, Asia, and other regions bring language skills and cultural familiarity that make daily interactions more personal and less transactional.

That diversity is reinforced by an international volunteer program, including young participants from Germany who spend extended periods living and working within the Kalyna environment.

One volunteer, Ibanez recalls, decided to pursue social work after experiencing the culture of care firsthand.

In a profession facing global recruitment challenges, that kind of influence matters.

Accountability in a New Era

Australia’s aged care sector has undergone sweeping reforms following years of public scrutiny and policy change. Reporting obligations are stricter. Resident rights are more clearly protected. Providers are expected to respond rapidly to complaints, incidents, and clinical concerns.

For some operators, these reforms have felt burdensome. For Ibanez, they feel necessary.

“When someone is upset, that matters. This is their home,” Ibanez states.

She speaks passionately about accountability, particularly around incidents involving dignity, emotional well-being, or unexplained injuries. Every complaint, no matter how small, it carries weight.

What once may have been dismissed as routine dissatisfaction is now investigated as a possible care issue. That, she says, is progress.

The board is responsible and proactive in relation to all the reforms underway and is committed to compliance and high-quality service.

The organisation’s current accreditation status and public care data reflect its ongoing compliance with government standards and continuous improvement programs.

More importantly, the reforms have reinforced something Kalyna has long believed: older people deserve not just care, but protection, respect, and voice.

Looking Beyond the Present

As Kalyna Care approaches its fifth decade, its ambitions remain grounded but clear.

Future priorities include strengthening dementia and palliative care capabilities, modernising older sections of the residence, and potentially expanding services to reach more communities across greater Melbourne.

But growth, Ibanez insists, cannot come at the expense of identity.

Culture remains central. Heritage remains central. Human connection remains central.

In an era increasingly shaped by automation, data systems, and operational efficiency, Kalyna Care is quietly proving that the future of aged care may not depend on becoming more corporate.

It may depend on becoming more human. And perhaps that is why the simple morning greeting still matters most. Because in places like Kalyna Care, dignity is not delivered through policy alone.

It is delivered in the pause before a nurse moves on, in the family member invited to stay for Christmas lunch, in the volunteer who discovers purpose, and in the elderly resident who still feels seen.

That is not just care: that is belonging.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Kalyna Care

What: A feature exploring the organisation’s multicultural aged care model, its heritage, operational growth, workforce philosophy and commitment to dignity-led resident care.

Where: Delahey, Melbourne, Australia.

Website: www.kalynacare.com.au

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