Six Pallets - Proof That Purpose Still Matters
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
There is a quiet assumption in our communities that when someone is diagnosed with younger onset dementia, their world must immediately shrink.
Too often, people in their 40s, 50s and early 60s are gently redirected into programmes designed for people decades older than them, or for those in much later stages of dementia. Activities may be well-intentioned — but they can feel disconnected from who these individuals still are. Former business owners. Builders. Teachers. Administrators. Creatives. Parents with mortgages. People in the middle of life.
What is underestimated is not just their capability, it is their identity.
At The Young Onset Dementia Collective, we believe that a diagnosis does not erase a person’s desire to contribute, to feel useful, to belong in spaces that reflect the life stage they are still in. We believe that purpose does not expire at diagnosis.
And so we are changing perceptions, not through words alone, but through action.
Recently, we facilitated a working trial opportunity with a large corporate organisation. A small team of people living with younger onset dementia arrived for a full day of work, supported by volunteers from our Collective. They stepped into a real working environment. not a simulated activity, not a “therapy task,” but a genuine workflow.
The job was practical and purposeful: unpacking supplied products, boxing them carefully, and palletising them for future distribution. To complete the work efficiently, they needed to create a system - who unpacks, who checks, who boxes, who stacks. They problem-solved. They communicated. They supported one another. They adjusted when something didn’t quite fit.
It wasn’t about keeping busy. It was about being productive.
Something shifted during that day. You could see it in posture. In banter. In quiet concentration. In the rhythm that forms when people work side by side toward a shared goal. For a few hours, they were not “clients” or “service users.” They were colleagues.
There is profound dignity in doing normal work, in a normal environment, with normal expectations.
For many in the group, employment had been an important part of their identity before dementia interrupted their careers. To re-enter a workplace, to wear the high-viz vest, to manage workflow, to check quality was to reconnect with that part of themselves. It was a reminder that capability still exists. That contribution is still possible.
At the end of the day, they stood back and looked across six completed pallets of boxed product. Tangible, visible proof of their effort.
Six pallets.
Not symbolic. Not pretend. Real output that would move on through the company’s distribution chain.
There is something deeply rewarding about being able to see the physical result of your work. For people living with dementia, whose days can sometimes feel defined by what has been lost, the ability to point and say, “We did that,” matters enormously.
The business noticed. They commented on the group’s professionalism, the pride they took in their work, the care with which the products were packed. They acknowledged how the team left the workspace clean, organised, and orderly. There was no tokenism. No soft praise. Just genuine appreciation for a job well done.
And it was.
A job well done by a group of people living with dementia who still have so much to offer to themselves, to their whanau, and to the wider community.
This is what changes perceptions.
Not sympathy.
Not lowered expectations.
But opportunity.
When we create age-appropriate, meaningful environments where people can contribute in ways that reflect who they are, we move beyond care into connection. Beyond activity into achievement. Beyond diagnosis into dignity.
The Young Onset Dementia Collective exists because people deserve more than being underestimated.
They deserve to be seen, not just for what has changed, but for what remains.
And sometimes, all it takes to remind the world, and themselves, is six pallets at the end of a working day.
YOUR DONATION will HELP US HELP OURSELVES.
Getting help needed is a living challenge for the group behind Young Onset Dementia Collective.
If we wait for Government, Ministry of Health or under-funded agencies, it will be too little too late for our people.
For many the situation is dire. Help is needed NOW so we made a collective conscious decision to do everything we can to help ourselves. Spouses, partners, carers of people living with younger onset dementia have real life reasons driving combined determination.
Help us keep minds engaged and spirits lifted for those affected. Plus support carers in their financial, mental and wellbeing journey.
