"Absolutely devastating", "such a shame", "so, so wrong", "so disappointing". They were some of the reactions to the shock closure of Warrnambool's Tasty Plate, a catering and cafe business set up to give people with a disability on-the-job training.
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Not-for-profit Brophy Family and Youth Services announced the decision on January 8, just a couple of hours after its cafes were due to open for the day.
The decision has wider impacts. Nineteen staff, 14 NDIS participants are out of work; two other city cafes, one at South West TAFE and one in the city's state-of-the-art library, are now also shut because Tasty Plate had contracts to staff and service those and customers with orders or functions are now left scrambling for new caterers.
Vulnerable people who loved what they did are now lost. What do people like Warrnambool's Aaron Skinner do? His autism means he needs a routine and his routine included working at Tasty Plate. "It's back to the drawing board for Aaron," his father David told us. "I don't want him to sit at home - I want him to get out on his own and do things on his own."
Why did this happen?
Brophy chief executive officer Francis Broekman said the organisation had done everything it could to save Tasty Plate but the business was no longer viable and a drop in NDIS participants meant it was receiving less financial support. He said Brophy had invested in marketing in a bid to find more participants without success. It had 14 participants but to break even needed 40-50.
But Brophy failed to answer questions about Tasty Plate's financial situation and says it won't change its mind. How much money was needed to keep it operating?
Readers posted on our Facebook page messages of hope another organisation could give it a go. Where was the warning? Where was the consultation with participants and the community that had supported the initiative for more than a decade?
Why didn't Brophy take Tasty Plate's plight to the community before making such a decision?
Our community has shown time and time again that in moments of need we find ways to prop up businesses and help people - remember the collective who bought out popular bakery Chitticks more than a decade ago. It still operates today.
But Brophy's failure to engage the community denied such opportunities. It was a similar story when aged care provider Lyndoch announced the closure of Terang's May Noonan centre back in June 2023.
Surely this could have been handled differently.
Too many people are hurting. The question will always remain - could it have been saved?
