Green Galah opens at Tallangatta to support young people with disabilities

Green Galah opened its doors at Tallangatta just over a week ago, with the aim to bring social, employment, and daily living skills to young members of the community living with a disability.

Located in the town's old bank building "smack bang" in the middle of the main street, the enterprise is a highly visible - and much-needed - presence in the community.

And that's just how its creators want it - a hub where young people with disabilities learn and practise vital life and job skills while interacting with the townsfolk in ways that build meaningful and positive connections in the community.

While the business is still at the fledgling stage, plans include a dog-friendly coffee and ice-cream hub (including 'pup-uccinos'), a retail store selling local artisan produce, a recycle-upcycle shop and even a mini-nursery.

Already there is a buzz in the town as curious community members, council staff and even local law enforcement stop by for a chat and soon-to-be-offered coffee.

Green Galah makes another addition to Ms Tait's fabulous flock.

She first founded the Purple Chicken cafe and hospitality program in 2019, which has evolved into a fully fledged and successful cafe (complete with a COVID-19 takeaway service) at City Central Church in David Street, Albury.

Not a woman to leave all her eggs in one basket, Ms Tait quickly hatched further initiatives to expand on the options for young people and their families; soon to follow was Blue Goose NDIS plan management and support co-ordination and Red Bantam, a learning taskforce for manufacturing industries.

Threaded through every business decision is a vision to see the young people involved spread their wings and fly.

But Green Galah is a "game changer", according to Ms Tait.

It has been driven by families in the town of Tallangatta; desperately hoping to replicate the same opportunities for their young people that have been afforded the Purple Chicken and Red Bantam flock.

"I was approached by a family who wanted supports through Red Bantam at Lavington," Ms Tait explains.

"But that's just nuts when most of the (NDIS) funding is eaten with the cost of getting there and back."

So with that, Ms Tait took them under her wing.

She projects Green Galah will boost the local economy by up to $500,000 (with $330,000 in wages alone) in the next 12 months, while providing work for 10 local people.

"At the moment NDIS funding is spent in larger centres, with support service workers driving out and then taking people back into Albury and Wodonga," she says.

"NDIS funding is not being injected into rural and remote communities through spending in town, and through wages for local people.

"It also means NDIS funding is being spent on travel, and not for the direct benefit of the person with a disability.

"This program is a game changer on multiple levels."

Tallangatta resident and community advocate Lucy-Anne Cobby says she's been talking about the need for this type of service in the town for years.

"Eventually four mums sat down around a kitchen table and agreed, 'If we don't make this happen, no one else will so let's give it a crack'," says Ms Cobby, whose 21-year-old son with autism has joined Green Galah.

"This is overdue; it comes from a need for support for young people with disabilities where they live.

"The future can look pretty bleak for these young people who might have left special school and are doing nothing.

"Albury-Wodonga has a lot of services but the young person has to travel long distances - and they can't - so it's left up to families, which takes time and money."

Even Ms Cobby was surprised by the number of potential participants who jumped at the chance to join Green Galah.

Devastatingly, the second surprise came with discovering a number of young people who might be eligible did not have an NDIS plan.

"It threw us a bit," Ms Cobby admits.

"We have about 13 potential participants but there might be 5 at most who are on an NDIS plan.

"I feel from talking to the families - it can all just get too hard.

"The support is there but it can be tricky to access and it's just another layer for families to deal with.

"So they think, 'We'll just plod along as we are'."

The hurdle has slowed things down a bit as the team scrambles to help families wade through the often-daunting task of applying for NDIS funding.

But Jen Tait is nothing if not resourceful and determined; she's added NDIS support co-ordination to the mix at Green Galah at least one day a month.

"It's not something I anticipated we would need to do but there is a major gap and we don't want people out there who are vulnerable and without support," she says.

"The NDIS can be daunting and hard to understand so we will provide support co-ordination in the community."

Both women have been buoyed by the positive support and encouragement of the local community.

At its heart this program not only builds the capacity and skills of the young person, it helps connect them to their community more deeply and offers the chance of employment in their home town.

But it's not just about jobs for local people or an injection into the local economy.

It's not just about learning to make coffee, food handling practices, budgeting or fixing a whipper-snipper.

"This helps young people build relationships in the place they are going to live their lives," Ms Tait says.

"We know people are safer in communities where they are known and where they can make a positive contribution.

"There is so much potential for so many great outcomes ... and if we can make the model work in Tallangatta we could replicate it in other rural communities."

The real power of Green Galah is its visibility; it's presence in the community.

"This is not a closed-door factory down the back," Ms Cobby says.

"This is a beautiful partnership the town can embrace."