Aisha's Story

Oct 04, 2017

Long before she became a Whitelion youth worker, Aisha opened her heart and home to young people at risk.

Unofficially, you could say my youth work started in my early twenties. I was working in retail and kept coming across people I called my ‘waifs and strays’. These kids were the misfits – the punks, the emos, the goths and the nerds. They didn’t always fit in, nor have a place to go.

This led me to open up my home after work so they could come over, be themselves and eat bowls of pasta (pretty much all I could afford to feed five to ten hungry teenagers!). In my lounge room they created their own community, sharing music, books, art and support. Their parents had my phone number and were able to call me and trust their kids were safe.

I didn’t even know that ‘youth worker’ was a career option until my early thirties. Someone I knew was in the middle of their placement working with teenagers, and mentioned how much fun it was. I’d had such great experiences with my open house that the thought of working with young people for a job seemed really exciting.

My first job was working in residential care in the south of Melbourne, where I saw firsthand for myself the great work Whitelion does. Young people had Whitelion volunteers who would take them to their activities, and support them through their ups and downs when engaging with new people and groups.

The Community Integration Program gives young people the chance to try something new based on their strengths and interests and this is at the core of what Whitelion does – we are a youth-driven organisation with a strengths-based approach. The volunteers are really important because they help nurture and encourage young people to go out and seek communities of their own.

I am still in contact with a lot of the young people that dropped in to my open house. The most amazing thing is that they are still friends with each other too. The community they developed back then has been sustained for over 15 years. Keeping on helping young people identify their community is what drives me, knowing that this provides them with life skills and supports to carry on.

Note: Whitelion’s Community Integration Program links young people with volunteers who provide them with life-changing support and rebuild their self-esteem.

Young people may find themselves in out-of-home care – residential, foster or kinship – but, with the support of local clubs and community groups, they are able to build meaningful connections with adults and other people their own age. Whitelion’s volunteers and young people often form life-long bonds.

The program runs across three regions – South, North/West and Gippsland - supporting vulnerable young people aged between 10 and 18.