youth homelessness Archives - Page 5 of 13

What it takes to be a Youth Worker

April 25, 2023April 21, 2023

Being a Youth Worker is believing you can, and wanting to, make a difference in the lives of young people.

Youth Workers are often those who have always been aware of others and the world around them and want to improve things.

As a child, they may have had a great sense of social justice and the confidence to do something about it – standing up for other kids, protecting animals, organising bake sales or selling their old toys to raise money for charity – you know, those kids?!

Others might have found their way to youth work through their professional career , life changes or may have grown up needing support services as a child and seen the difference it made and wanted to follow in those footsteps to return the favour to others who need help.

The role

The role of a Youth Worker is to advocate for young people, to give them the skills to advocate for themselves and find their place in society. Youth Workers also support young people in their own decision-making and facilitate their personal, social and educational development.

There are various pathways to becoming a Youth Worker, and Seek.com cover them here.

The personal satisfaction of knowing that you made a difference in youth work is vast; the role also comes with matching responsibilities, difficult situations and, more often than not, navigating the system.

Are you a solutionist?

Becoming an amazing Youth Worker means looking at the person in front of you and figuring out what they want and need now and in the future and how to get them there.

Accomplished Youth Workers are optimistic, fearless, motivated, resourceful, passionate and have excellent communication skills.

Do you have good boundaries?

Youth Workers burn up much energy trying to find solutions, and progress can be slow. Frustration and discouragement are common, particularly with those in the earlier stages of their careers. It is important, with all that passion, that Youth Workers are aware of, and maintain their own personal and professional boundaries.

Self-care is an essential survival skill in balancing work/life and preserving longevity in the career of a Youth Worker.

Our Youth Workers provide a vital contribution to our organisation, we couldn’t do what we do without them. Youth Workers can help young people feel understood and listened to at a time when they feel like they have the least control over their lives.

What we offer

Career progression and training – the opportunity to build a career with a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making a difference.
Salary packaging
Employee Assistance Program – independent free counselling service
An inclusive culture of dedicated, passionate and professional team members

What our clients say:

In a recent survey, 83% of our young people said they felt always or mostly supported by their Youth Worker. Comments from young people about their Youth Worker when asked how their Youth Worker could support them further were: ‘they did great’, ‘nothing, my support workers are the best’, ‘I receive great support’. You can read the entire report here.

Causes of youth homelessness – bereavement

March 17, 2023

Youth Homelessness - parental bereavement

According to CREATE Foundation, there were 45,000 children and young people living in out-of-home care across Australia between June 2018 to 2019. However, this number changes every year as children and young people come in and out of the care system… you can read more here.

What is the leading cause of homelessness in young people?

According to AIWH, in 2019–20, three of the main reasons young people aged 15–24 sought assistance from specialist homelessness services were a housing crisis (17%), family and domestic violence (17%) and inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions (12%).

Bereavement

Another reason we might not hear about is parental bereavement. Did you know that 1 in 20 children in Australia will lose a parent by the time they’re 18?

Death of a parent can be an extremely stressful time for a child or young person even if they have the support of the other parent. What if they don’t – who takes care of the children? Usually it would be settled by the court in consultation with family but in the event there is nobody able or willing to, then the child would be placed in out of home care and the agency would try to find a suitable foster family.

When the bereavement happens with a young person they may come to Burdekin, where we offer wraparound, therapeutic care for the child or young person.

We recently listened to Dr Justin Coulson’s Happy Families podcast with his guest speaker Kristy Thomas, Co-Founder of Feel the Magic and the topic of Helping Kids Cope With Grief. Kristy says’ Feel the Magic was borne out of her own and her husbands bereavement and lack of resources in Australia.

Feel the Magic hold virtual and face-to-face camps teaching emotional literacy, coping strategies, tools to self-regulate and self soothe and they also get to meet others who are going through the same thing. Anxiety, dysregulation, overwhelm, isolation, withdrawal and risk-taking behaviours. A child who has had a significant bereavement before the age of 18 is six times more likely to die by suicide. Have a listen. Helping Kids Cope With Grief

Youth Homelessness Matters Day 2023

March 16, 2023March 16, 2023

Youth Homelessness Matters Day (YHMD) takes place on Wednesday 19th April and was conceived in 1990 to raise awareness and public discussion about child and youth homelessness.

Over the years, it has grown into a national celebration of young people’s resilience and an important day of advocacy for sustainable and innovative solutions to support the needs of children and young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The Burdekin Association is honouring the day in a number of ways.

This year YFoundations are calling for the development of a standalone National Child and Youth Homelessness and Housing Strategy.

The Burdekin Association has signed the petition and ask that you sign it too. Please also share with friends, family and colleagues. Join the conversation and help us half youth homelessness by 2030.

Sign the petition, register your own YHMD event, get more information about YHMD2023.

Confront the Crisis – Housing for all

March 5, 2023February 24, 2023

We recently attended the Confront the Crisis – Housing for All summit on ending homelessness and confronting the housing crisis in NSW.

Confront the Crisis

Confront the Crisis is a campaign by Community Housing Industry Association NSW which calls on each and every MP, each and every party in NSW to confront the housing crisis by committing to real, long-term investment in community housing ahead of the state election this March.

Housing for All Summit

Housing for All – NSW Pre- Election Town Hall event, was organised by Homelessness NSW and The Community Housing Industry Association NSW.

The event, taking place during the NSW state election campaign, was a chance for our political leaders, the sector, and the community to take another step towards a future NSW where everyone in NSW has a safe place to call home.

Hosted by journalist Joe Hildebrand, speakers included:

Mark Degotardi, Community Housing Industry Association NSW
Trina Jones, Homelessness NSW
Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore
The Hon Rose Jackson, NSW Labor
Jenny Leong, MP NSW Greens
Alex Greenwich, MP Independent
Adina Cirson, The Property Council

Housing for All summit host Joe Hildebrand

Jenny Leong MP, Alex Greenwich MP and Rose Jackson MP discussing the NSW housing and homelessness crisis and the strategic and collaborative approach needed to solve the problem.

Key workers are struggling to find a place to live. Young people are losing hope. “The market will not fix itself. We need government intervention to provide essential affordable housing stock.” – The Hon. Rose Jackson, NSW Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness.

“At the current rate of investment in NSW, it would take around 80 years to build enough social and affordable housing for the households currently on the NSW social housing waitlist.” – Trina Jones from @HomelessnessNSW

UNSW’s Hal Pawson talking about how NSW net supply of social housing is falling while demand is rising. Census data shows 144,000 households would be eligible for social housing – far more than the official NSW social housing waitlist shows.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and CHIA NSW and @HomelessnessNSW Housing for All event calling for sustained government investment in social and affordable housing.

“We have an opportunity to maximise the investment from the Housing Australia Future Fund.” 8,000 people joined the NSW social housing waitlist last year. CHIA NSW’s @MarkDegotardi says now is the time for action.

Next steps

Sign the petition and further resources.

Ending Homelessness Together campaign.

Demand for our services continues to grow

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023

Youth Homelessness and Family Support Services

The Burdekin Association exists to support young people towards a better-quality life. Many of us have found ourselves in this job because we love the idea of helping others and advocating for our most vulnerable people in society. We have a huge amount of job satisfaction – we get to help children and young people have a better life but it is a tough job at times too.

Our workload is high as we strive to meet our continued growth but we are highly motivated. We do not want to let one single young person down; young people come to us and have often been let down multiple times prior to finding us. We continue to run our organisation well and operate within our means. However, the increase in demand for our services means an increase in costs with no associated change in revenue. The solution is simple, we require increased funding and are constantly fundraising. Our CEO, Justene recently took to Facebook to say this.

It’s been both an inspiring yet exhausting last few years. We provide homes for children and young people all over the eastern Sydney region from Avalon in the North to Ramsgate in the South. In the space of 4 years we now care for 10 times or 1000% more children and young people. We don’t want to increase however whilst their are children and young people who need a safe home we will strive to ensure that everyone of them has one.

We want to make sure everyone of these children and young people have access to the same opportunities as there peers. We are now struggling to do this.

Our fundraising/philanthropic and donations that we receive go straight back into ensuring our children and young people have the absolute best and extra care we can possibly provide as well as holidays, access to our bespoke education program, mental health support, formal dresses/tickets, soccer shoes, sports fees, gym fees, apprenticeship tools, driving lessons…everything and anything that they need (balanced with what they want!). With our growth we need more funds to give all our children and young people all that they deserve.

What can you do…I would love it if you could run your own one off or yearly third party fundraiser at work, in the community, your family, your school or club. I will run (well walk), swim (slowly), dance and do pretty much anything I can to assist in your efforts.

If you are interested in running an event for us please reach out. Thank you for any support you can provide. Justene CEO.

Your help, small or large, is immensely appreciated and vital to our continued success. There are many ways in which you can support us. One opportunity is sleeping over at Freshwater on Friday March 17th for Home Sweet 2023 or sponsoring our team to sleepover. Grab your comfy gear, friends, family or colleagues and come and join us for a fun, community event to raise much needed funds and awareness for homelessness.

Our pages: Get involved, Community Fundraising and Support Us, all have information on practical ways that you can support our work.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement we are in the process of collating data from our surveys of our young people and employees. This will enable us to see what we are doing right and what we need to improve. We look forward to sharing this information with you soon.