Introduced by Youth & Vocational Director Wendy Mitchem, each of the Brophy people spoke about the work that they do.Nick: not long at Brophy after moving across from The Standard. He said that his role was to communicate all aspects of the Brophy operation to everyone he can get hold of. He said that it had been going for more than fifty years after being started by Father Brophy. There are now some 45 different programs supported by 200 staff working out of centres in Warrnambool, Portland and Hamilton
Sheree: responsible for foster care, the aim being to keep locals local. 21,000 young people in care across Australia. There are currently 40 carer households catering for about 50 young people. Part of the job is to provide respite for and assistance to the carers, e.g., taking young people on camp to allow the carers free time or an all-day outing to Geelong Adventure Park which allowed carers to meet other carers.
Dom: L2P covers age range 16-23, and matches young people who do not have a responsible adult or a suitable vehicle with mentors so that they can achieve the 120 hours of driving experience necessary to obtain a licence. Not all are “troubled” – some are separated from home for education or other purposes. The mentor commitment is about 1½ hours per week, and the program has three cars, two automatic and one manual.
Reference was made to the value of “Santa Sacks” generously supported by RCWE and individual members, especially for emergency referrals.
Questions were asked about funding, to which there was no easy answer, e.g., Headspace receives some Federal funding, L2P has a relationship with the Traffic Accident Commission, a whole lot of sources depending on the nature of the program. The one certainty is that there is never enough to do what needs to be done.
It was reported that the Raglan Parade Housing Units, despite the objections at the beginning, have been an outstanding success.
The Brophy speakers gave their “fee” to Hospice, and were thanked by Director Wendy and President Cliff who announced that $1000 was being donated to L2P.