By CASEY NEILL
THE Ermha team has been running between four different buildings on Robinson Street in Dandenong to find space for a meeting, chat to a colleague or pick up a document.
By the end of next month the 200-plus staff will come together in a new head office on Princes Highway.
MadCap Social Enterprise and Ermha marketing and communications executive director Christine Thornton said the mental health service had been expanding at a rapid rate.
“In the last five years we’ve dramatically increased in the clients we’ve been able to service,” she said.
“We’ve outgrown our spaces. It was never our plan to have four leases in four different buildings. It was just meeting demand.
“We couldn’t just go out and move our head office every time we got a new contract.”
Ermha has signed a seven-year, $411,445 per annum lease for a 1349 square metre space at 81-125 Princes Highway.
“We’ve been lucky enough to find Estate One, a spot that’s on level one. It meets all our needs,” Ms Thornton said.
“We’re going to be providing all the office space for our staff in the south east region.
“We are still maintaining our drop-in space at 65 Robinson Street.
“We knew we still needed to maintain our representation in the CBD of Dandenong.”
The site will be refurbished to create a space that’s welcoming for children and for people from all cultures.
Ms Thornton said the move would provide more spaces for staff training and opportunities to host community training and forums.
“The need for support people with disability and mental illness in the south east is growing,” she said.
