Creating opportunities close to home

Opportunities to grow, learn, be employed and stay in Meekatharra are at the centre of Yulella Aboriginal Corporation’s services. Yulella was set up to help local people find culturally appropriate work, set up enterprise opportunities and access training in the Midwest. This is leading to better access to the things people need to stay on Country and live more equitably.

Yulella cafe

‘Everyone in the community should have an opportunity, a job, and to understand that there are people willing to help,’ says Michael Vlahov, CEO.

And Michael should know – almost 8 years ago he first walked through the doors as a client, and now he’s a leader who brings lived experience to his role in the corporation.

‘When I joined, I kind of felt safe to leave my past behind and just move forward,’ Michael says. ‘It was open arms – “you’re here, welcome in, you can do this”. I’d never had that before.’

That experience shapes how Michael leads Yulella as it creates local opportunities for people who may have felt they had no choice but to leave their community for work – or miss out.

‘In a mining town, many people assume the only pathway is working on the mines. But that’s not what everyone wants. A lot of people would rather work locally, but with limited opportunities, it can be difficult.’

Yulella has focused on creating those opportunities close to home while also tackling some of the practical issues that have made it hard for people to stay in the community.

Better access creates better outcomes

One of the organisation’s biggest projects as of late, has been transforming its Vision Store into a growing community hub. What started as a small community store selling clothes and household items has expanded into something much bigger.  

The Vision Store

‘We rebuilt the Vision Store as a community shop so people in Meekathara can buy the basics you’d expect to find in a bigger town – clothes, whitegoods, household items and now even fresh food – without having to travel hundreds of kilometres.’ explains Michael.

‘The store has grown into a real community hub. Before, you couldn’t even buy a pair of socks in town. Now we have fridges, TVs, a good range of clothing, vegetables, and now a café, and transport hub, all under one roof.’

Yulella has also introduced practical community initiatives, including free trailer hire so residents can clean up their yards. It also has lay-by options to help families buy Christmas presents and household essentials.

Bringing competition to the checkout

One of Yulella’s most significant impacts has come through improving access to affordable groceries.

With Meekatharra located 500 km from the nearest town centre of Geraldton, and with only one supermarket in town, food costs had become a major issue for residents.

‘One of the biggest concerns we’ve seen was about affordable food,’ Michael says. ‘It’s very hard to get people to stay here because it’s so expensive.’

Yulella responded by building partnerships with freight company Western Independent Foods and creating a new transport system. This allows community members to order groceries online from a large supermarket in Geraldton.  

‘Our freight partners would bring a big load into town once a week, drop it at the Vision Store, and we use our smaller trucks to deliver to local businesses and distribute community members’ click‑and‑collect orders,’ explains Michael.

The system has quickly grown, with over 200 community members regularly using the service. Michael says the impact has already been noticeable.

‘Bringing click and collect from Geraldton to Meekatharra gives people another option and helps keep grocery pricing responsive. We have already seen some everyday items become more competitively priced in town, which is a good result for local families and households.’

This has helped reduce cost-of-living pressures, making staying in town more affordable for families and workers while creating more job opportunities.

‘We’ve had feedback from essential local services saying this is really helping us keep skilled staff in town,’ Michael says. ‘The additional money they get for being remote is worth it now because it doesn’t go straight on food.’

Stronger governance and community control

With these projects, Yulella has continued strengthening its governance and capacity. Michael credits much of that growth to the corporation’s partnership with the ABC Foundation, which helped Yulella improve its governance structures, financial systems and compliance processes when the organisation was struggling over 5 years ago.

‘ABC Foundation came in to build our capacity as an Aboriginal corporation,’ Michael says. ‘They helped us really understand governance – how it should be structured, how to keep our finances and payroll tight – and guided us step by step to where we are now. Without them, I don’t think it would have happened.’

Michael confidently says that Yulella has strong governance practices, which are the backbone of community control and self-determination.

The Yulella team

‘Good governance supports self-determination, strengthens community control and helps the corporation deliver cultural, social and economic goals while staying accountable to its members and community,’ he says.

Building a future that works locally

Looking ahead, Yulella wants to continue expanding local opportunities and building businesses that can support future generations.

‘We don’t have to just work with the businesses already established in town,’ he says. ‘We can create our own.’

The team is positive about the future, and full of gratitude for the community support it’s experiencing. A strong and constant feedback loop is giving Yulella more ideas and motivation to expand its services that invest in people, back local leadership and build solutions around what the community needs.  

‘We want to help build a stronger Meekatharra, where people can access more of what they need locally. That means practical, long-term solutions that support families, create local jobs and make life a bit easier for the community,’ Michael says proudly.