For 10 years, Mary’s House Services has been driven by a simple but powerful belief: everyone has the right to live free from abuse and violence.
From the small group of local people who first recognised the need for a domestic and family violence refuge on Sydney’s North Shore, Mary’s House Services has grown into a community-supported organisation providing refuge, specialist support and programs to hundreds of women and children each year.
As we celebrate our 10th anniversary and prepare for the next chapter of Mary’s House Services, Northsider magazine has brought together some of the remarkable people who have helped make that work possible in a special feature, It takes a village.
A community making room for hope
The feature comes at an important moment for Mary’s House Services, as we prepare to acquire a second refuge property in Sydney’s northern suburbs.
Expected to welcome its first families in 2027, the new refuge will more than double our accommodation capacity and will be the only refuge in the North Shore area offering self-contained apartments for women and children. It will provide temporary crisis accommodation for women and children of all ages, including families with pets.
Over the past decade, our existing refuge has provided more than 20,000 safe room nights, alongside specialised support and wellbeing services that help women and children move from crisis towards safety, healing and independence.
The new refuge means our team will be able to say yes to more women and children who need somewhere safe to go.
The people behind Mary’s House
What makes the Northsider feature particularly special is the people it celebrates.
These are the people who give their time, skills, voices and resources in very different ways, but who share a belief that domestic and family violence is an issue for the whole community.
The Northbridge Quilters have been supporting Mary’s House for around seven years, creating and donating quilts for women, children and babies. Each quilt takes hundreds of hours to make and is given so that someone arriving at Mary’s House has something of their own to keep, and a tangible reminder that their community is thinking of them.
Our volunteers fundraise, sell raffle tickets, attend events and help spread the word. Local businesses and supporters contribute financially and professionally. Community leaders advocate for greater awareness and support.
The North Sydney Bears are using their profile to speak out against domestic and family violence, becoming the first New South Wales Rugby League team to introduce a Captain’s Code pledge against domestic and family violence.
And younger members of our community are stepping forward too, learning more about healthy relationships, fundraising and volunteering to help create change for the generation that follows.
These contributions may look very different, but together they demonstrate what community support can achieve.
From an idea to a community movement
The feature also takes us back to where Mary’s House began.
Ten years ago, a group of people came together because they saw a gap in services for women and children escaping domestic and family violence on the North Shore and wanted to do something practical about it.
Almost 30 people attended an initial community meeting. From there, supporters offered expertise, connections, time, money, furniture, professional services and countless hours of work to turn an idea into a refuge.
That community spirit remains at the heart of Mary’s House Services today.
As CEO Yvette Vignando says in the feature:
Community support is the reason why Mary’s House Services exists. It’s our origin story and will always be part of Mary’s House DNA.
As we look towards opening our second refuge and the next decade of Mary’s House Services, that community will be more important than ever.
We are enormously grateful to Northsider for sharing our story and, most importantly, for shining a light on some of the many people who choose to stand alongside women and children experiencing domestic and family violence.
To every volunteer, donor, philanthropist, corporate partner, community group, advocate and supporter who has been part of our first 10 years: thank you.
There is still much more to do. But together, we can make room for more safety, more healing and more hope.
