Community Lifestyle Support (CLS) hopes to have their dream of opening a café, to help not only disabled people, but also the unemployed in the Bundaberg Region, come true by winning the Dreams for a Better World grant through Sunsuper.
CLS support co-ordinator Joe Woznitza said the Nardoo Café would help change hundreds of lives in the Bundaberg Region by giving more people jobs and training opportunities, and the community grant would kickstart the project.
Sunsuper's community grants aim to give not-for-profit organisations a helping hand to make their dream a reality, and voting for the winner closes in less than two weeks.
“The café has been on the cards for ages and we hope this will help us get it off the ground and running,” Joe said.
“We are working with Reclink Australia, and this café will help people who are struggling to find work also by giving them a chance to learn a new skill.”
At the Bundaberg CLS community hub Joe said they had been working hard to enrich the lives of the disabled through providing and creating services that inspired and enabled people to reach their potential.
He said if they were successful with the grant the Nardoo Community Café would be built by trainees and staffed by people living with disabilities to provide meaningful training and employment opportunities in the Bundaberg Region.
“We run a number of services, but our dream is to build a community café,” he said.
Community Lifestyle Support's cafe plan
The café will be a modified shipping container, fitted out with an accessible kitchen as well as a fully accessible shaded outdoor eating area.
“We are eager to kickstart our Nardoo Café project but first we need a shipping container,” Joe said.
“A grant from Sunsuper’s Dreams for a Better World program would help us purchase a 40-foot shipping container for $5000.
“This space isn’t just about selling coffee, it’s about providing meaningful employment for people with disabilities and showing the world that people with disabilities are an asset to their community.
“Bundaberg has more disabled people per capita than anywhere else in the country, and more unemployed, so our number one goal is to assist both of these groups.
“In the long run it's about ensuring people with a disability feel like they have value.”
Joe said if Community Lifestyle Support wins the most votes in this round of Dreams for a Better World grants they would be eligible to go through to next round, which could possibly mean they could win more money to help with the café project.
Sunsuper’s Dreams for a Better World program is all about partnering with those who dream big and do good to improve the lives of other Australians and their community, and there are $150,000 in grants to help make it happen.
If you would like to help Community Lifestyle Support’s dreams come true and see them win the Dreams for a Better World grant you can vote online before 22 July.
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