David Conry Youngcare

Supporting his wife through an illness, David Conry recognised the plight of young adults with disabilities being forced to live in aged care nursing home facilities, the only option for many of the 6,500 younger Australians who need residential care. David was inspired to set up Youngcare, not only to provide care facilities for young disabled adults, but also to create awareness for this issue and demonstrate how collaboration with the private sector, community and government can provide sustainable solutions. Today, Youngcare is truly innovative and unique. No one else in Australia is providing the same level of care, independence and privacy to young people with high care needs. Central to the success of Youngcare is the resident and their families – they determine their lifestyle and it is Youngcare’s mission to facilitate that lifestyle. David’s decision to launch and grow the Youngcare service has brought a new awareness of the lack of care facilities for young, disabled adults to the community and government. Youngcare was a key driver in the Federal and State governments together recently pledging $244 million of funding to address this issue. In 2007, Youngcare opened its first apartment complex in Sinnamon Park in Brisbane to provide full time care to 16 residents. Construction on Gold Coast apartment development commences this year and apartments in New South Wales are projected for 2010. Within the next seven years, David plans to have Youngcare apartments in each State and Territory of Australia. Despite the undoubted contribution David has made to society with his Youngcare vision, he doesn’t really see himself as an entrepreneur. He believes he is “…simply someone who has identified a problem and is helping to find a solution to that problem and that it is one thing to be motivated by an idea but the motivation must be to action it”. With such sentiments, there is no doubt that David is an entrepreneur in the truest sense.