A disability support service in Tweed Heads has been gifted a new facility after it was booted from its long-term home by the NSW Government.
Shaping Outcomes, which has spent four decades helping children with disabilities and learning difficulties grow into independent adults, had to vacate its base at Tweed Hospital in 2024 after it was decommissioned and moved into a leased premises at Tweed Heads South.
Recently, local venue Twin Towns and its philanthropic branches secured $1.25 million in funding to buy that premises and it is now planning to give it back to them so they can continue to operate.
Under the agreement, Shaping Outcomes will pay just a peppercorn rent and cover the premises’ operating costs for the next 20 years and then the ownership will be transferred to them.
Foundation Chair Ken Culpitt said the Board understood the enormous challenges Shaping Outcomes had faced since learning it would lose its long-term centre at the hospital and was determined to find a lasting solution.
“We believed Shaping Outcomes, an organisation that makes such an extraordinary difference in the lives of children and their families in our community, deserved the certainty of a permanent site,” Ken said.
“This contribution is about far more than bricks and mortar. Twinnies Gives has secured the future of an invaluable community organisation that has been delivering life-changing support to local families for more than four decades.”
Shaping Outcomes CEO Col Usher said losing the organisation’s base had created enormous uncertainty, making the past two years the most challenging in its history.
“We were worried we would no longer be able to provide the services our families rely on,” Col said.
“Knowing we now have a place of our own removes that uncertainty and allows us to focus on what matters most – supporting children and their families.
“Without the constraints of a commercial lease, we’ve been able to redesign the space into a purpose-built early intervention centre, complete with a sensory room, dedicated therapy rooms and learning spaces that better prepare children for their learning journey.
“We cannot thank the Twin Towns Services Community Foundation and our supporters enough. They have stood beside us throughout our journey, championed our work and believed in our mission.
“Thanks to their generosity, children and families across our region will continue to receive the very best start in life for generations to come.”
