One day a group of friends were sitting around a kitchen table discussing what was wrong with the world or more specifically what was wrong with living in a small rural community. The list grew:
- Lack of services for the disabled, the aged, youth.
- Lack of employment choices for the aged, the disabled the youth,
- Lack of activities for the youth, the disabled, the aged.
- Lack of educational opportunities for the disabled, the aged, the youth.
- Lack of housing for the aged, the disabled, the youth.
- Lack of support and advocacy for the youth, aged and disabled.
The word disenfranchised was bantered around. Those people who are the fringe dwellers of the community - the isolated, the marginalised, those who often don’t have a voice.
It is ok to sit around and talk about problems, bemoan something that seems unfixable but it is another issue altogether to actually do something about it.
As one person at the table said, “It’s pie in the sky – like trying to reach for the stars – it ain’t gonna happen.”
A small voice added… “Then let’s just reach for Mars.”
And that is how we got our name. MARSS – Maranoa and Regional Support Services. Of course The Department of Fair Trade added the Inc.
MARSS is a non for profit organisation classified as a Public Benevolent Institution currently upgrading to a direct charity.
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. Ayn Rand
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