1. E4PID Co-operative Ltd
E - Employment
4 - For
P - Persons with
I - Intellectual
D - Disability
2. BACKGROUND
• LACK OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AFTER
GRADUATING FROM SCHOOL (SPECIAL) AT AGE OF
18 YEARS
• LOW SUCCESS IN SUSTAINING OPEN EMPLOYMENT
ESPECIALLY WITHOUT SUPPORT
• A MAJORITY CAN STILL ENJOY MEANINGFUL
EMPLOYMENT IF WE CAN LEVEL THE PLAYING
FIELD BY ADJUSTING THE JOB TO FIT THE PERSON
THROUGH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AS WELL AS
ADJUSTING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT (LIKE
WORKING HOURS)
3. Our Vision
A Choice of Jobs for
Every Person with Intellectual Disability
Contributing to Enhancing their
Quality of Life
4. Why Co-operative?
NOT OWNED BY ONE PERSON OR JUST A SMALL GROUP OF
PEOPLE – OWNED EQUALLY BY ALL MEMBERS (NO LIMIT TO
NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE MEMBERS)
STRONGER GOVERNANCE (BUILT INTO BY-LAWS) WITH
OVERSIGHT UNDER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ACT
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE NOT A CHARITY
BETTER CORPORATE PROFILE WITH RESPECT TO OUR SOCIAL
AIMS
LINKS TO OTHER CO-OPERATIVES AS WELL AS RESOURCES
THROUGH SNCF
MORE LEGITIMACY IN ADVOCACY AS REPRESENT WIDE
MEMBERSHIP BASE
5. PARENTS
PARENTS PARENTS
PARENTS PARENTS
CO-OPERATIVE
VWO’s
SOCIAL SOCIAL SOCIAL SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE
6. MEMBERSHIP
ORDINARY
– PARENTS, GUARDIANS OR CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL
DISABILITY
– AT LEAST 100 SHARES @ $1 PER SHARE
– EQUAL RIGHTS REGARDLESS OF NUMBER OF SHARES OWNED
– SUBJECT TO ACCEPTANCE
– ELIGIBLE TO BE ELECTED TO MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND TO VOTE IN
MATTERS DISCUSSED AT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETINGS
– UNLIKE COMPANIES, SHARE VALUE WILL NOT CHANGE OVER TIME
– DIVIDENDS POSSIBLE BUT FINANCIAL DIVIDENDS UNLIKELY TO BE
SIGNIFICANT GIVEN OUR OBJECTIVES. THE BIGGEST DIVIDEND FOR ALL
MEMBERS SHOULD BE TRULY THE AVAILABILITY OF A CHOICE OF JOBS THAT
WILL ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL
DISABILITY
7. MEMBERSHIP
INSTITUTIONAL
– VWO’s AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN THE CARE AND WELFARE OF PERSONS
WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND SHARE THE VISION AND OBJECTIVES OF
THE CO-OPERATIVE
– AT LEAST 100 SHARES @ $1 PER SHARE
– EQUAL RIGHTS REGARDLESS OF NUMBER OF SHARES OWNED
– RECOMMENDED BY ORDINARY MEMBER AND SUBJECT TO ACCEPTANCE
– AUTOMATICALLY SITS ON THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, TO DISCUSS AND
DEBATE ON MATTERS AT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETINGS BUT NO
VOTING RIGHTS ON DECISION
– INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS INVITED AND ACCEPTED BASED ON THEIR
POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE CAUSE OF THE CO-OPERATIVE
AND THEREFORE THEIR ACTIVE CONTRIBUTION EXPECTED
8. WHY JOIN
WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT SOME OF OUR CHILDREN
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD DOWN LONG TERM “OPEN
EMPLOYMENT” PARTICULARLY WITHOUT CONTINUOUS
SUPPORT
A MAJORITY CAN STILL ENJOY MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT IF
WE CAN LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD BY ADJUSTING THE JOB TO
FIT THE PERSON THROUGH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AS WELL
AS ADJUSTING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT (LIKE WORKING
HOURS)
IF PARENTS DO NOT GET TOGETHER NOW TO CREATE
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WHO ARE WE WAITING FOR?
IF WE HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF JOB CHOICES, THERE WILL BE
MORE THAN ONE THAT IS SUITABLE FOR OUR OWN CHILD
IF WE ARE TIRED OF OUR JOB, WE CAN SWITCH JOB. IF WE HAVE
11. Only Harvesting and Packaging Done in
Singapore
culturing
Fresh
nutrients
DONE IN packaging
SINGAPORE
12. The Product
Good quality fresh temperate mushrooms
produced in Singapore and sold to select
supermarket chains and select
restaurants.
Fresh mushroom has very short shelf life
and our product can get to the
supermarket shelf within the same day of
harvesting and commands a premium.
13. The Employment Model
Staffwith intellectual disability trained by
VWOs and equipped with the necessary
assistive devices comprise a majority of
the workforce.
Complemented by staff with other
disability or non-disabled staffs trained to
work with persons with intellectual
disability
On-going training and re-training of
workforce by VWOs.
Notes de l'éditeur
Employment for Persons with Intellectual Disability Co-operative Limited.
The mushroom farm is an example of a social enterprise that meets the requirement of our proposed social enterprise concept.
Our Vision : A Choice of Jobs for EVERY Person with Intellectual Disability contributing to enhancing their QUALITY OF LIFE. There must be real choices that allow the person to sustain long term meaningful employment.
Self explanatory.
Co-operative set up by parents, guardians and caregivers of persons with intellectual disability. VWO’s involved in persons with intellectual disability also invited to join so as to contribute towards our vision. Social Enterprises set up to run businesses that are structured to provide jobs that are suitable and meaningful for a wide range of people with intellectual disability. A majority of the employees are people with intellectual disability but they are augmented by people with other types of disability or non-disable persons.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
We have already lined up a social enterprise that will meet as much as possible all the ideals that we envisioned.
Typical mushroom cultivation cycle. Saw dust and other nutrients are packed in plastic bags about 0.8kg. These bags are subjected to high temperature steam to pasteurize them to kill all living organism. Spores from healthy mushroom are cultured in suitable medium which is then introduced into the pasteurized substrate. The bags are left in a cool and relatively dark place to allow the mycelin to grow. The mushroom that we see is actually the “fruit” which blooms when the mycelin is matured. The mushroom continues to bloom until the substrate is depleted of nutrients. The substrate in the bags can be recycled by adding nutrients and packing into new bags. The cycle repeats.
Most of the stages can be done in China. The “matured” bags are then transported to Singapore in reef containers. Only the harvesting and packaging is done in Singapore. The depleted bags are discarded instead of recycled. This gives us an opportunity for another business : worm casting.