While the Mirboo North & District Community Foundation is only 13 years old, our story began 90 years ago with the creation of the Mirboo North Bush Nursing Hospital in 1932.

The hospital was set up by the community for the purpose of providing accessible healthcare, which it continued to do for more than 60 years. During those decades it weathered many challenges, and community fundraising and donations were key to its longevity.

In the 1980s, the advent of Medicare and accessible public hospitals required the MN Bush Nursing Hospital to adapt – it transitioned to aged care. This was a difficult decision for the volunteer board, but they went ahead knowing that while a local hospital was no longer viable, there was a real need for an aged care service in the district. This transition was completed in 1994 and strong connections were developed between the elderly residents and the local community.

Just over 10 years later, the community volunteer board of the aged care facility faced another challenging situation: financial difficulties due to its size and operational challenges due to an accreditation failure. The board put in thousands of volunteer hours to restore accreditation and to work through solutions to the viability issue.

Again, the organisation’s survival required difficult and brave decisions – focused not only on maintaining care for the elderly, but also ensuring the continuation of the largest employer and ancillary health and pharmacy services in the town.

The volunteer board decided to sell the aged care facility in 2008 to private providers for just over $5 million. As of 2023, this facility continues to thrive in private ownership, and the elderly residents remain at the heart of the community.

After the sale, the volunteer board were faced with one last challenge: how best to use the $5 million proceeds to benefit the community that had created it. The community foundation model ticked the boxes: with a focus on a particular geographic area and a perpetual basis, the funds remain invested for the local community and only the earnings are distributed for charitable purposes.

In early 2010, the existing organisation amended its rules, changed its name, and became the Mirboo North & District Community Foundation.

Thirteen years later, the value of that decision is clear: the Community Foundation has a perpetual fund of almost $8M, it has given $1.6M to the community in grants and sponsorship, it has received almost $700k in donations and bequests, and it has built a medical centre facility for a bulk billing medical practice.