Getting on the right track
Nick’s changed a lot in two years, as he’ll tell you. “I’m proud of where I am now because back then I wasn’t proud of anything I’d done. I’d dropped out of school and I was doing quite literally nothing.”
Nick came to Australian Red Cross through an alternative education program for young people in Hervey Bay, Queensland.
“When Nick presented at our office, he had very low self-esteem and was very withdrawn,” says caseworker Janine. “He would cover his face with his hair and didn’t stand proudly like he does today.”
The first step was to build his confidence. “We take kids on adventure-based learning camps,” she says.
It’s about getting them out of their comfort zone and building them back up. Challenging them, showing them they can achieve things; risk-taking but in a positive way.
From there it was about setting personal goals. First, a gym membership, working with a trainer who had previously completed a Red Cross program himself. Then it was employability skills such as a driver licence and Responsible Serving of Alcohol certificate.
Along the way, Nick decided he wanted to go back to school and complete Years 11 and 12. “I think this time I wanted to pass,” he says. “Back then I didn’t care about anything.”
In Year 12, his older sister tragically passed away from pneumonia linked to Rett Syndrome. It was a tough time for Nick and his mum, but it was made a little easier by their growing connection to his sister’s partner, Dom, a young man with a disability.
“Working with Dom has helped mum and me a lot because he was very, very close with my sister,” Nick says.
Getting his driver licence means that Nick can now provide respite care to Dom while his mother Rebecca is at work. Both young men value the friendship that’s grown between them. “Dom doesn’t hold back. He’ll say whatever he wants to say when he wants to say it. It’s pretty funny.”
The future is looking a lot brighter than Nick thought it would be and he’s proud of how far he’s come with Red Cross.
They were getting us kids on the right track and they succeeded with me, I’d say.
Janine says Hervey Bay has a high number of homeless people and many of them don’t have extended family support. Red Cross provides a safe space for young people to seek help.
“A lot of people access our services because of word-of-mouth: ‘Red Cross is there, they will help you; they helped me’.
“Our role is to make young people feel safe and identify their strengths, so they can find an alternative pathway to education or employment.”