The work that's still shaping Macquarie Home Stay today
About Macquarie Home Stay and Sefa
Macquarie Home Stay provides affordable, supported accommodation for patients and families travelling to Dubbo for medical treatment
They now operate 51 units with over 20 staff, and have grown into one of regional NSW's most significant patient accommodation providers in just seven years
Sefa worked with Macquarie Home Stay in 2023 to develop a Theory of Change and impact measurement approach
Three years on, that work has shaped a $240,000 grant, a ministerial briefing and how the organisation plans what comes next
"Without the Theory of Change, we wouldn't have got the $240,000 grant. And I'm actually using it right now with another application!"
ROD CROWFOOT, Managing Director, Macquarie Home Stay
Three years ago, Macquarie Home Stay already knew the difference they were making. What they didn't have yet was a way to explain it.
"We had so many anecdotal stories of what we do and what it does for patients and their families," says MD Rod Crowfoot. "But to actually putting it in a written framework helped ground us and gives us a platform to work from."
Working with Sefa to develop their Theory of Change gave the organisation a shared way of describing what they do, why it matters and what it leads to. It also changed how Rod framed conversations with funders and government.
"We kept pitching the fact that you were funding the building of a building," he says. "The Theory of Change let me start thinking about broadening that. It's not about the buildings. The buildings are the enabler."
What it means for patients and families
John and his wife stayed six weeks while she underwent cancer treatment, travelling from a small town about two hours from Dubbo. A month in, he pulled Rod aside. He shared that his wife had good days and bad days, and as her husband of over 50 years, so did he. But, he said, coming back to Macquarie Home Stay each week, actually made them feel better.
"The Cancer Centre does a wonderful job providing treatment," Rod says. "We do a great job providing a home for somebody to do life for six weeks while they're having radiotherapy. If we didn't exist, they wouldn't be here for treatment because they physically could not afford it."
ROD CROWFOOT, Managing Director, Macquarie Home Stay
Underpinning funding opportunities and advocacy
Within months of completing the work with Sefa, Macquarie Home Stay applied for a grant from Glencore, which required a Theory of Change as part of the application. "We were successful with a grant application for $240,000" Rod says. "It was a requirement to attach the Theory of Change to our application, without it wouldn't have received such valuable support." He still reaches for it in grant conversations today.
It has also changed the level at which they can advocate. Last year the organisation hosted a sector conference at NSW Parliament House, where Rod briefed the Health Minister directly. The presentation was grounded in their Theory of Change, clearly showing how patient accommodation underpins health outcomes and system efficiency. They’ve since been invited to contribute to Dr Joe McGirrs Rural Health Action plan, a formal process aimed at improving outcomes for regional patients.
What's next for Macquarie Home Stay?
Planning for stage three is underway, five freestanding cottages designed as a village, a concept developed to support families, including many Aboriginal families across rural and remote NSW. Funding for the first two cottages is already in place. Stage 4 is also on the radar, a further 14 guest rooms.
“When we can talk about the Theory of Change with a funding partner, or with the Health Minister, we're not talking off the cuff,” Rod says. “It cleared some of the fog away and helped us mature.”
“It's not sitting on a bookshelf. We're still using it, and it's giving us value even all these years afterwards.”
Want more stories like this?
Check out our collection of Impact Stories for more on the work Sefa is doing across affordable housing, community engagement and more…