The power of never giving up - Jack's Story

Feb 04, 2020

Jack had a background of engaging in criminal behaviours with the group of his peers he considered his closest friends. He was at first reluctant to work with Whitelion and even continued his criminal behaviour and had an unstable home environment when he first began engaging with his worker.

There were a number of barriers Jack had to overcome, with the most important being his connection to people engaging in criminal behaviour. Jack worked hard in his intensive pre-employment training and was excited to be offered a role. However, he experienced a setback when he lost the opportunity due to charges that came back on his police check. The worker continued to encourage him despite his disappointment in losing the opportunity.

More placements became available but it was clear Jack required more support to manage issues he was facing in his home life and appropriate workplace behaviour. It was through the consistent work and communication with Jack the worker was able to better understand the barriers he was facing and together they worked through them. This at times included supporting Jack to surrender himself to the police station due to warrants. The worker continued to help him through letters of support in his court cases to demonstrate the hard work he was doing to build a future for himself.

Despite the many setbacks Jack faced he was able to, with the support of his worker, obtain his own employment in a field he is passionate about. He has begun to distance himself from his peers who were involved with criminal behaviour. Jack is optimistic about the future and his employment is just the first step for him to build his dream life.