Xavier Home for Crippled Children

The Xavier Home for Crippled Children, in Coorparoo, operated from 1949 to 1994. The weatherboard house was purchased by the Xavier Society in the 1940s to become a Home for children afflicted by polio.  It was officially opened by Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane Duhig on 15 May 1949. From 1951, the Xavier Home was run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The Home accommodated children from all denominations (Brisbane City Council website).

The Home expanded in the 1950s, with another weatherboard building being purchased and the construction of new brick buildings. A construction company website about its restoration of the property to its original state in 2007 states that during its years as a children’s institution, the weatherboard building had been “encased in brickwork and a labyrinth of ramps constructed around the outside” (Harrison Constructions, 2007).

In 1969, the institution became known as Xavier Hospital for Children. A special school opened on the site in 1970. In 1979, the hospital facilities were extended with a kindergarten and teenage apartment (Xavier website, 2019).

A book written in 1976 stated that the institution was originally established as a Home for children with disabilities and was later extended to being a hospital for the long term care of children. The same publication reports that the number of children at Xavier Home peaked in 1971 and then began to decrease “possibly due to current thinking to avoid institutional care if it is at all possible” (Ann Amen, 1976, p.19).

In 1992, the institution adopted a new philosophy based on a flexible, individualised community model. It continued to provide accommodation for children with disabilities and their families.

In 1994, it was re-named the Xavier Children’s Support Network.

In 2007, retirement accommodation was built around the edges of the site of the institution, and the weatherboard building was restored and reused as a community facility for the complex.