Driving home self-worth

20 September 2018

Jayson Forrest

Jayson Forrest is the managing editor of Money & Life Magazine.

Lisa Farnell CFP® has enjoyed an eight year relationship with not-for-profit organisation STAY, and has helped spearhead a driving program for at-risk youth. Geraldton-based planner, Lisa Farnell CFP® from Financial Solutions Geraldton, has enjoyed an eight year involvement with Short Term Accommodation for Youth (STAY) - a not-for-profit organisation that is funded by the Department of Communities - Child Protection and Family Support Division.

STAY provides short-term crisis accommodation for youth in crisis, as well as referral, advocacy and support for youth. STAY also provides youth workers, recreational activities, and opportunities for access to education, employment and housing.

“My involvement with STAY started about eight years ago, when a friend who worked for STAY, approached me to join the Board. I’ve been involved ever since,” says Lisa.

She has held a variety of roles at STAY, including Treasurer, Vice Chair and her current role as Chair.

“It makes me really proud to have a small involvement in such a life changing organisation,” Lisa says. “The staff work small miracles every day with the at risk youth in our town and that is an amazing thing to be part of.

“It’s pretty easy to live your life in a bubble thinking that the rest of the community is just like you, but this is my reality check. I realise how charmed my life is and my involvement with STAY is a way for me to give back.”

Lisa’s close involvement with STAY and the life changing work it does in the community, motivated her to endorse STAY’s 2017 Future2 Make the Difference! Grant, for the STAY Driving Program, of which it was a 2017 recipient of a $10,000 grant.

STAY Driving Program

According to STAY agency manager, Amanda Brunelli, the STAY Driving Program is part of the Life Skills Program delivered by STAY.

“The main aim of the STAY program is to transition young people to independence. As the need for a driver’s licence is so important in seeking work and being an independent person within the community, STAY identified that driver learning was an aspect of our program that we needed to support,” Amanda says. “The STAY Driving Program has been designed to assist young people who are at risk and without parental support, to help them gain their driver’s licence.”

Throughout the STAY Driving Program, participants are supported with up to 12 lessons from a professional driving instructor who is a partner of the STAY Driving Program. This enables young people to obtain their supported driving hours with suitably qualified STAY youth workers (who are accredited with driver training).

$10,000 goes a long way

As a STAY Board member, Lisa admits to constantly being on the lookout for opportunities that can further the work STAY does.

“The Future2 grant seemed like a really good fit for the STAY Driving Program, and the process of applying for the grant was relatively straightforward and not arduous. For volunteer and not-for-profits, this is a real bonus,” she says.

According to Lisa, the core business for STAY is the provision of accommodation for young people in crisis. The STAY Driving Program is one of the services that expands on this core service and helps young people transition out of crisis accommodation and into the wider world as resilient and responsible adults.

“The STAY staff were finding that a number of young people were already driving unlicensed. The key issues for them in getting their licences was the cost and also the time involved in getting their driving hours logged. If they don’t have family to help them out, then this is near on impossible,” Lisa says.

“The staff were seeing young people miss out on apprenticeships and work opportunities because they didn’t have a driver’s licence. So, the introduction of the STAY Driving Program (along with the crisis accommodation) has been life changing for some of the young people who have participated in this program.”

Amanda agrees, saying the $10,000 Future2 grant will be put to good use.

“The funding from the Future2 grant will be utilised by supporting 10 or more young people to achieve their full provisional licence. We have partnered with a number of supporting organisations, like Fergys Driving School and School Drug Education and Road Aware (SDERA) to assist young people break down the barriers to getting their driver’s licence,” she says.

“The funding will provide young people with up to 12 professional lessons, resources to pass hazard and practical driving tests, as well as the final costs of their provisional licence. And STAY will support young people with up to 50 hours of supported driving hours, in kind.”

A game changer

Lisa believes the $10,000 Future2 grant will be enormously beneficial for the STAY Driving Program – not just for at risk youth but also the wider community.

“For the youth who are involved in the STAY Driving Program, it’s a game changer. With a licence, they are able to apply for apprenticeships and any number of jobs that are licence dependent,” Lisa says.

“Without the support of family, most of these young people wouldn’t have the chance to get a licence, as just logging the required hours is quite intensive. And for the community, the program means we have a few less young people driving around unlicensed!”

Amanda agrees: “This program ensures that young people who are at risk, vulnerable and perhaps driving without a licence, are supported towards education and driver compliance. This program also makes it possible for young people who would not normally have access to training and a licensed vehicle, to achieve the goal of obtaining a licence.”

She adds that young people participating in the program have identified this as their ‘off the wall’ achievement.

“Before coming to STAY, these young people didn’t think it was possible for them to obtain a driver’s licence. But now, many of the young people in the program are working on changing their behaviours around risk taking, such as driving unlicensed vehicles and driving without a licence, which potentially could cause harm to themselves and others in the community.

“The driving program also provides an incentive for them to attend school, TAFE or other educational options. And as there is a policy around drug testing prior to entering this program, all participants have to be drug and alcohol-free. This policy enables STAY to support at risk youth to reduce and then eliminate their use of alcohol and drugs.”

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A little more about STAY

Short Term Accommodation for Youth (STAY) is a supported youth accommodation service located in the Mid West region of Western Australia. STAY is solely funded by the Department of Communities – Child Protection and Family Support Division (DCPFS) and has been in operation since 1991. It has a stable and committed group of 10 staff and a Board of eight members.

STAY supports up to 70 young people a year – aged between 15 and 19 years – with the most common length of short-term residence being 32 weeks. This enables STAY to make lasting and sustainable life skills impacts and provide stability to the lives of the young people staying there.

STAY supports some of Western Australia’s most vulnerable young people who are often homeless and/or in the care of the DCPFS.

STAY runs its program from its Quarry Street House in Geraldton, which assists young people to transition to independence. The STAY Driving Program has recently been developed to assist young people to gain their driver’s licence.

The organisation aims to transition young people to the community, with a feeling of belonging and commitment, by being engaged, law abiding and respectful young citizens. By empowering young people to learn new skills, such as being able to drive, cook, clean and take care of themselves, at risk youth realise their self-worth, enabling them to find inner peace.

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