A taste of things to come
Thanks to your generosity, young people across Australia are getting the support and opportunities they need to pursue happy, healthy and self-sufficient lives.
Charcoal Lane in trendy, inner-city Melbourne is a restaurant like few others.
A quick glance at the native Australia-inspired menu tells of its uniqueness: Roasted emu fan fillet or Parma ham wrapped wallaby, anyone? But it’s the people behind the menu that make it truly one-of-a-kind.
Charcoal Lane is a Social Enterprise run by Mission Australia that provides mentoring and hospitality training to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. Relentlessly high youth unemployment threatens the future of young people, especially those from families with limited work history. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 2016 Census was more than three times the rate for non-Indigenous people.
Over the past 12 months, your donations have supported 30 young people to participate in this life-changing program.
One of them was Scott*.
When Scott first started at Charcoal Lane he was living with his father and brother in a caravan park. He provided the family’s main financial support, and took the responsibility of being a mentor for his younger brother. On top of this, he spent three hours each day commuting for work. When he thought about his future, he felt burdened by the many barriers standing in his way.
Seeing Scott’s determination to change his life, a friend told him about Charcoal Lane.
With guidance and encouragement from Mission Australia staff, Scott was successful in completing the training program and securing an apprenticeship. His steady income has allowed him to secure more appropriate housing, obtain his driver’s licence and purchase a car.
Today, Scott continues to be a strong support for his young brother and family, and has been nominated for two awards for excellence, including a State Training Award.
*Names and images have been changed to protect the identities of the people we helped.
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