Youniverse (now named Microboards)
A community of learning and practice, made up of people with disability, their families and supporters.
Youniverse empower collectives to formalize and build sustainable support structures by becoming Microboards: a group of friends and family, created to support a person with significant needs, that could be related to a disability, health or ageing.
2014 Pitch
Funds raised: $11,000
Youniverse raised $11,000 at TFN’s first Perth event for 2014 on 6 May. This funding has been used to employ a local project officer in the regional town of Albany; and to provide online and face-to-face education workshops and reimburse workshop facilitators and contributors. The project has also received printing resources valued at $950, business mentoring and pro-bono risk management and legal entity advice.
The impact...
How do we measure the potential of a single individual to the power of “us”. The possibilities must be endless.
The power of Youniverse lies in its maximisation of network resource by creating formal and sustainable support teams known as Microboards: made up of individuals with specific needs, their families and their supporters.
In addition to meeting the direct costs of a regional service delivery, Youniverse has made significant inroads over 12 months in consolidating key lines of communications, measuring social impact and expanding local business, national and international networks. Additional funding and revenue of $200,000 has been attributed indirectly to TFN pitch coaching and mentoring.
For a person with specific needs, Youniverse adopts a tripartite focus: building a collective around that person; ensuring that person has a voice via their collective and the relevant support services; and facilitating open-minded optionality in that person’s life. It is the difference between a group of individuals and a unified team - integrated and pragmatic enrichment.
For the families in Albany, the impact of Youniverse information has been significant. For regional locales, isolation is the nemesis of new and innovative concepts – but post-workshop surveys of participants indicate that local Catalyst support is accelerating the establishment of Microboards and bringing hope and a sense of control for the future.
Multiplying one to the power of many, the answer is Youniverse.
Read their Impact Report
