Supported employment presents
new opportunities for Open Minds clients
Open Minds’ partnership with Multicap is bringing our clients one step closer to increased independence with the offering of supported employment through Multicap’s social enterprises and commercial relationships.
An Open Minds client recently experienced their first day of employment at Laundretto, a full-service commercial laundrette run by Multicap that offers meaningful employment for people with disabilities.
Working at Laundretto brings an opportunity to build skills in customer service, laundry processes, and logistics.
“Our partnership with Multicap has expanded opportunities for Open Minds’ clients. I am so happy to see them fulfill life goals of gaining employment,” said Open Minds Care Leader, Roger Daly.
The opportunity came about last month when Open Minds clients took a tour of the Tingalpa Makeables facility. Makeables is a Multicap’s social enterprise that makes the manual elements of production and distribution easier for businesses.
The tour was hosted by Multicap’s Pathways Operations Manager, Bec Lowther, and gave clients an insight into the possibility of earning an income and gaining transferrable skills alongside Makeable’s 145 supported employees.
The tour brought palpable excitement for the group.
“Some of our clients have had the goal to gain employment for years. Being able to link our clients with a broader support network that will further enable an independent and positive future for them is a wonderful thing,” said Roger.
Bec is equally excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Open Minds and help more people realise their goals through supported employment.
“Working with Open Minds has been such a pleasure. We are all working towards one goal – to enhance the quality of life for our clients and customers – and through our partnership we have even more opportunities to do that,” said Bec.
Supported employment plays an important role in increasing the social and economic participation of people with disability. In 2021-22, Multicap provided 144,704 hours of employment to 185 supported employees.
To find out more about Multicap’s social enterprises, please visit the Multicap website.
To find out how Open Minds can support you to be an active member of the community, please visit our website.