Endeavour Foundation Shuts Mareeba Disability Agency After $200,000 Losses, Affecting 20 Workers
Updated
Updated · ABC News · Jul 22
Endeavour Foundation Shuts Mareeba Disability Agency After $200,000 Losses, Affecting 20 Workers
1 articles · Updated · ABC News · Jul 22
Summary
Mareeba Business Solutions will close on July 31, ending supported employment for almost 20 people with intellectual disabilities after Endeavour Foundation said the operation had become unsustainable.
More than $200,000 in losses last financial year, shrinking commercial contracts and what the provider called complex, unfavourable NDIA funding arrangements drove the decision.
Families said the closure strips workers of routine, income and self-esteem, while Endeavour said it is still seeking social-enterprise contracts and other options but cannot promise the site will survive.
Mareeba Lions Club, which says it helped fund the facility in the early 1980s, is challenging the move because it was not consulted and fears the site could be sold rather than kept for local disability services.
Mareeba's mayor and Labor senator Nita Green said they were exploring options, while the NDIA said it was working with the provider and participants on transfers to other services.