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Since opening, The Dunn Lewis Centre at Ulladulla has grown to be a vibrant hub of community activity where young and old alike can participate in recreational and social activities, artistic displays, debates, cultural exhibitions, local and national forums.
A core component of the centre is the Dunn and Lewis Youth Development Foundation, whose mission is to provide young people with the support and opportunities. With this aim in mind, the foundation has supported and developed a number of youth programs over the last few years including alternative education programs, vocational training programs, wellbeing programs, cultural classes, seminars on apprenticeships, raising teens and more.
The foundation has a vision of the Dunn and Lewis Centre as being a shared community space where young people can access social, vocational, educational, and health based services and programs, and where the community is a strong partner in the development of this space.
It has made great strides towards this vision and is excited to announce the appointment of Gemma Hart as program manager to develop and implement additional youth-focused programs for the foundation.
Gemma has worked in community development for almost a decade specialising in community integration programs for young people. "I'm really excited and proud to be part of an organisation with such a profound and well thought out vision for the young people of Ulladulla", she said.
"The foundation has already made such an impact on the lives of young people in the area and I'm honoured to be given the opportunity to be part of such great work."
A large focus for Gemma is the implementation of the F3style program, a multifaceted training and employment program for young people aged between 16-21 that aims to give young people the education, training, support and experience required to gain employment. "It's a program that has been incredibly well thought out," Gemma said. "With a particular focus on the barriers that young people face in getting employment in a small town.
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"One of these barriers is community integration. When I think back to when my generation got their first job opportunities, and a lot of that came down to who you knew. Young people don't have this opportunity for community connection anymore. Civic life is not as powerful as it once was. Neighbours are more isolated from each other and our young people grew up in an era where playing in the streets was often discouraged.
"The F3style program addresses this barrier with a mentoring approach. Participants are matched with an adult mentor who spends time with them each week to help them develop their goals and build their confidence. This aspect of the program is incredibly important, as research suggests that if a young person has just one adult mentor outside of their family circle, then their chances of success in later life are far greater. Academic life improves, emotional regulation improves, as well as confidence and self-esteem".
The program also has a focus on individualised support, education, training, wellbeing, social development and employment.
Individualised support: The F3style program provides young people with regular one-on-one support through a worker and a mentor who will examine what their needs are, what barriers they have to gaining employment, and where they want to focus in terms of career choices.
Education: The F3style program supports young people to explore what career path they want to start off with, and then helps them to access the right course to get started on that journey. F3style has relationships with a number of education providers and will get young people into the course that suits them.
Training: The F3style program provides job readiness training for young people to familiarise themselves with the basic expectations of a workplace. We also run skills based workshops in hospitality, retail, trades, events management and more.
Wellbeing and social development: The F3style program is not all about work, afternoons are generally devoted to wellbeing and social development activities where young people have the chance to explore their creativity and develop an understanding of what makes them who they are. What are their talents, their passions. What are the innate skills they already have. We also provide young people with opportunities to engage more fully in civic life, express their opinions, hopes and fears, and integrate into their community.
Employment: The F3style program also has a unique paid work component where young people work shifts at the centre and are given feedback on their performance. We explore with them where they went well, and what could be improved so that they are more than ready to meet employer requirements when they then move into the local workforce. Once they have developed on their skills by working at the centre, we then recruit small businesses to take these young people on for 3hrs per week. The F3style participants become a 'workforce for hire' and the program collates feedback from the businesses to improve upon participant's employability.
"I think perhaps the most exciting aspect of this program is the level of community involvement it depends upon,' Gemma said.
"Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to support these young people to realise their full potential. Ulladulla is a very powerful community that always pulls together in times of need. And these young people need this community to be there for them.
Could you be the catalyst for change in a young persons life? Are you a person that would consider devoting one to two hours a week to mentoring a young person? Are you a local business that could put on a member of our trained F3style workforce for three hours a week?
Could you facilitate any of the wellbeing workshops that help young people explore creativity and community? Are you, or do you know of a young person that has left school and is not sure of what to do next?
Organisers want the community to be involved every step of the way in the F3style program. To find out more, contact Gemma at the Dunn and Lewis Youth Development Foundation on 4454 1099 or Gemma.hart@dunnlewisfoundation.org.au.
Read more: Celebrating young people