Dr Lorna Hodgkinson was a remarkable Australian of great dedication and vision. Contrary to the government's policy at the time, she firmly believed that people with an intellectual disability should not be put into hospitals for the mentally ill. In April 1924, Dr Hodgkinson advertised for residents to enter a new private school for 'mentally defective' children; with six pupils it opened later that year as the Sunshine Institute, Gore Hill.

Immediately before her death, Dr Hodgkinson converted the institute to a non-profit organisation under a board of trustees, to whom she bequeathed the bulk of her estate. Renamed the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home, the institution expanded, retaining her philosophy of individual care and development.

Today, the Sunshine Home continues to deliver quality, innovative
services to over 400 adults with an intellectual disability, as well as providing support services to the frail, aged people and population in Blacktown, Parklea, Upper and Lower North Shore, Hornsby and Central Coast regions. In the same forward thinking manner as Dr Hodgkinson, the Home continues to develop its key service areas; community based accommodation, community participation programs, employment services, flexible in-home respite care and centre-based respite care as well as to extend and develop new services.