From Volunteer Mentor to Program Coordinator

Sep 26, 2018

My partner and I have been operating a Hobart food business/café for the last 15 years and I initially signed up as a Whitelion volunteer mentor mid-2016, whilst completing my Certificate IV in community services and youth work.

I really subscribed to the ethic and commitment Whitelion’s staff had in supporting youth at risk and wanted to be a part of that culture for my first foray into community services work.

I commenced in a part time role as an employment program worker in September of the same year, then took on a full time role in January 2017. Since December 2017, I have been engaged as the program coordinator for the Release My Future Prison Youth Through Care Program.

My role at Whitelion is so varied. Even though the prison program is focussed on educational engagement and outcomes, I spend a considerable amount of time with my young people supporting them to get basic ‘life supports’ in place, such as secure housing; mental and general health supports; Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) counselling; Centrelink and financial supports; and community engagement, just to name a few. Engagement with educational outcomes would be nigh impossible if the young people aren’t supported with this other stuff also.

Without a doubt, trying to support our young people coming out of prison with secure, stable and suitable housing is the biggest challenge here in Tasmania. This has a flow on effect to all other areas of that young person’s life, as you could imagine. One young man for instance, was released from prison seven weeks ago and has currently had seven different addresses in that time.

There are always plenty of disappointments in this game, as I’m sure anyone reading this who works in the sector, well knows, but we keep doing this work for the ‘small wins’ that our young people achieve. This can be something as simple as regular engagement with their worker for instance, where this may not have happened in the past.

I have had some big wins for my young people also, especially in my previous role as an employment program coordinator. As a team here in Tassie, we have been able to build some wonderful collaborations with industry, who have provided many training and work opportunities for our young people and we have had many continue on with work outcomes from these collaborations.

I am looking forward to the challenge of making and exceeding the proposed outcomes we aim to achieve with the Release My Future program, so we can secure ongoing funding to continue, and even expand this very worthwhile pilot program to provide some hope, confidence and of course greater employment opportunities and outcomes for these young men and women beyond the walls.

- Peter Owen, Program Coordinator, Hobart