Afford has a long history of supporting people with various disabilities to live a full life. We started from humble beginnings and now we are proud providers of disability supports across NSW, Queensland and Victoria. This year we are celebrating our 65th birthday!
Afford was first founded as The Poliomyelitis Society was founded in 1951 and incorporated in 1952
In 1953, we opened our first accommodation based service, an After Care Hospital in Turramurra called ‘Cherrywood’
In 1954, we changed our name to The Poliomyelitis and Physically Handicapped Society
In 1960, we opened our first supported employment work centre in Padstow.
Salk Vaccine had a dramatic effect in virtually eliminating poliomyelitis in Australia, In 1967, we changed our name to The Foundation For Disabled.
Throughout the 1960’s our Cherrywood site continued being upgraded with a pool accessible to our clients.
1970’s – to mark the completion of the Sports Oval at Cherrywood, we hosted the first 100 mile race ever run in Australia.
Our Sheltered Employment Enterprises continued to expand, hiring more people with disabilities.
In 1990’s – we introduced our Post School Vocational Programs and Day Program offerings helping people prepare for the workplace and life skills.
Consumers were involved in creating policies and procedures which safeguarded the rights of our clients.
In 2000 – We changed our name to the Australian Foundation for Disabled and began trading under the name Afford.
Our Disability Employment Service (DES) launched and has since been ranked as the #1 DES in Australia.
We also launched our short term accommodation (respite) services.
We recently transitioned into the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2014 – the greatest reform to Australian Health Care since Medicare.
Since then we have been proudly servicing more and more people with disabilities and allowing their dreams to soar.
