Initially, financial backing fell short of expectations, but the Bernard Sunley Foundation, through the Bahamas Paraplegic Association, gave a $10,000 grant and Dave Smalley loaned his Mackey Street property as a workshop.

The first employee was Livingstone Mortimer, a double leg amputee, who after two years of imposed idleness gained the dignity of employment for what proved to be the last year of his life.

By the end of the first year, eleven (11) handicapped persons where employed by the company, including five (5) paraplegics, one (1) deaf mute, three (3) mentally challenged individuals, one (1) alcoholic and one (1) mentally ill person. The activities included the manufacture of brooms, hand-painted mobiles of the Coat of Arms of the Bahama Islands, repair, refinishing and upholstery of all types of furniture, rental of appliances for the handicapped and processing used stamps for overseas collectors.

In March 1976, the Rotary Club of West Nassau purchased Thompson’s Ceramic House business for Abilities Unlimited. This added a new manufacturing program to the company, giving employment to a total of twenty (20) handicapped workers by the end of 1976.

By the end of June 1978, the total staff numbered thirty-two (32) of which twenty-seven (27) were handicapped. This amounted to two more than what was projected at the time of the company’s inception.

To cope with the problem of a training subsidy, an annual fair was organized by Francis Noronha under the patronage of Zoe Maynard, wife of the then Minister of Tourism the Hon. Clement T. Maynard. The revenue from the fairs and simultaneous newspaper supplements ensured the continuity of Abilities Unlimited.

An annual sale of personalized Christmas cards organized during September and October each year by Nancy Braithwaite, has made further substantial contributions to the Building Fund.

In September 1980, Abilities Unlimited announced the relocation of its business to its new building on Dolphin Drive. The official opening ceremony was held in 1981. At the end, a three-phase complex was completed at the total cost of $200,000.

The site –which sits on two acres of land, was originally leased from the Bahamas Government through the help of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries the Hon. George Smith. Funds for the development were raised through the company’s sales, the support of the Ironsiders Club, private donations, the annual fair and sale of cards.