‘When someone is seriously ill, you don’t want to leave the hospital room’

NOMI KALTMANN speaks to the founders of Melbourne’s Beit Rafael charity, which provides crisis accommodation apartments near hospitals, a medical shuttle and a ‘Shabbas Box’

LEAH BALBIN REMEMBERS the fear she felt when her six-month baby Sam was unwell with bronchitis. He had struggled to breathe for a few days, and as her concern grew, she found herself with her husband and baby on the way to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital on a Friday in the hours before Shabbat to have him checked in emergency.

Unsure if she would have to stay near the children’s hospital over Shabbat with her family, she recalls that someone told them to call Beit Rafael.  Co-founder Shimon Allen picked up her husband’s call, reassuring him that the key to a fully-stocked apartment across the road from the hospital, where they could stay free of charge, was on its way to them.

“It was erev Shabbos. It was unbelievable, the apartment had everything you needed,” recalls Balbin.  

While thankfully the Balbins didn’t end up needing to stay at the apartment (the hospital monitored her son and his breathing eventually stabilised), and they were able to return home before Shabbat, Balbin was struck by the sheer kindness of Beit Rafael’s offer.

“I didn’t know these people. I was blown away. It felt like we were not alone. The apartment was fully stocked with food and bedding and if we had stayed there over Shabbos, we wouldn’t have needed anything,” she says.

Founded in 2012 by Melburnians Shimon and Adina Allen, Beit Rafael is a charity that provides crisis accommodation apartments near major Melbourne hospitals. These apartments are fully furnished, stocked with food and other necessities required for people to reside there while they have a hospitalised family member and need to be immediately at hand.

“About 10 years ago my wife Adina had an idea that we should open an apartment for families to reside in while their child was undergoing treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital,” recalls Shimon Allen.