Issue 01 | Autumn 2010passagesresource centre

Passages Resource Centre, 22 Palmerston Street, Northbridge WA 6003 | P (08) 9228 1478 | F (08) 9228 9572 | W www.vinnies.org.au

The recent announcement of Patrick McGorry as Australian of the Year has refocused the community on Mental Health service delivery in Australia for those living with mental illness. A lot of troubled youth suffer from mild to severe mental problems due to drug and alcohol use. In an article written in The Australian newspaper on the weekend of 6th February 2010, Patrick McGorry states some interesting facts.

A newsletter from Passages Resource Centre

Every four hours in Australia someone dies as a result of suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death in people under 30 in Australia, more than road deaths.

Only 35% of people with mental health problems have access to quality care, compared to 90% of people with physical illness. I agree with Patrick when he states that Australia needs a modern, unified system with early intervention as a feature for young people under 25. He states that Federal and State politicians, policy makers and the community have been let down by advisors who have retarded reform and have let our fragile mental health system fall into crisis.

Patrick McGorry is a Researcher, the Executive Director of ORYGEN Youth Health and a Clinician at the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (Headspace). ORYGEN Youth Health, a Melbourne based mental health service for young people were forced to turn away 1000 young people with serious mental health issues last year. Headspace is a National Youth Mental Health Foundation service providing care for more than 20,000 young people and 93% are very positive about their care. However a National Survey indicates another 750,000 young people need help with the state of the mental health.

Passages provides an extensive list of services which can be read about in this Newsletter. A lot of Passages clients suffer from mental health issues and therefore Passages has engaged some specific mental health counselling programs to provide services to clients. These services

include Youthlink and the Mobile Mind Care program with the Perth Primary Care Network. Both of these services provide counselling for people with mental health issues. Passages also assists clients with, or refers them to, a number of programs and services that can assist in dealing with mental health issues in conjunction with other issues such as accommodation, employment, Centrelink benefits, education, legal advice and drug and alcohol use.

I hope that you continue to support Passages and are encouraged by the projects undertaken and services offered by the Centre due to the dedication of our Manager Danielle Tilbrook and her staff.

David J ReedChairman Management Committee

For Passages client Jeff, ‘change’ has been the theme surrounding his life recently. Jeff first engaged with Passages at the age of 17, and has been accessing the service for nearly four years. During the first three years, Jeff would use the service to access the kitchen and bathroom facilities, as a place to send his mail, and as a facility to wash his clothes.

Passages had a total of 1,113 individuals access the service in 2009. Of these individuals the highest age group was 19-21 years (58%). There were 819 referrals to specialised support agencies including those to financial, accommodation, health and counselling services. There were also 9,459 centre-based services used. Passages Resource Centre has seen 12,547 individuals since opening their doors in 1998.

Passages Resource Centre is located at Bendat House: 22 Palmerston Street, Northbridge. It is ideally situated to engage with and provide services for Perth’s most disadvantaged young people – some as young as 12 years old.

We seek to offer friendly, non-judgmental hospitality providing an environment that encourages trusting relationships and facilitates open dialogue with young people.

We offer:

Unconditional and non-judgmental hospitality •within a safe environment

Access to laundry, kitchen and bathroom facilities•

Free use of computer, telephone and mail services•

Information workshops by key specialist agencies•

Informal counselling and opportunities to be heard•

Support with difficulties resulting from things •such as homelessness, poverty, family breakdown, abuse and mental illness

Avenue to promote a sense of belonging and self •worth whilst countering feelings of isolation and marginalisation

Opportunities to develop social and life skills•

Access to affordable clothing, food and •accommodation

Advocacy and referrals to appropriate specialist •agencies.

During this time, Jeff was a heavy drinker and drug user. However, things have changed over the last nine months and he has since been engaging in some of the services which provide more than the bare necessities of life.

Some of these services include accessing the education grant to become a qualified Chef at TAFE. He has also been a part of the accommodation and E3 programs offered at Passages. The external organisations he has accessed through Passages include DAWN (Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Network) and Youthlink. All of these services have helped him turn around a nonexistent relationship with his son, see his substance use cut down

significantly, and his self identity and worth improve dramatically.

When Jeff was asked what changed for him to engage in the additional services available at Passages, his response was simply “trust” and “everything that you people [Passages staff] have been trying to get me to do finally just sunk in.” Jeff’s response proves that the patience and persistence shown by the Passages team goes a very long way in assisting in the rehabilitation of a disadvantaged person. The Passages staff see the clients’ improvement as a stage in their journey, not their destination. The staff look forward to continuing in Jeff’s progress to a better life.

The Drug and Alcohol Youth Service (DAYS) is a partnership between Mission Australia and Next Step. The program offers an outpatient counselling service, a two to three week withdrawal program in East Perth and a three month respite program in Carlisle. Services are provided for young people aged 12-18 with some flexibility up to the age of 21 for those who are experiencing significantly problematic drug use. DAYS have an Outreach Worker who attends Passages every Tuesday morning to assist clients with their drug issues.

The service provides 24 hour supportive care.

Treatment services offered within these programs include:

Comprehensive assessment•

Case Management•

Individual counselling•

Medical assessment and review•

Clinical Psychology services•

Group programs•

Mentoring and outreach (including •an Aboriginal mentor)

Opiate and alcohol pharmacotherapy•

Parent and family counselling•

Alternate therapies which include •- Art Therapy - Flower Essence - Music Therapy - Drama Therapy - Reiki - Nutrition Therapy

Chairman’s Report

‘Change’ is the Themeat Passages

Passages Continues toProvide Vital Services

Help is Available Through DAYS

Total number of client visits

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Male 327 404 2,793 1,809 3,794 2,888 1,920 2,618 2,178 1,841 2,431 2,063

Female 173 296 971 838 1,626 2,469 1,921 1,494 1,521 1,548 1,901 1,559

Total 500 700 3,764 2,647 5,420 5,357 3,841 4,112 3,699 3,389 4,332 3,622

Welcome to the new look Passages newsletter. The new logo symbolises exactly what Passages is about, an “A-OK hand gesture” symbolising the hope provided at Passages which can help to make things “OK” for street present youth. The logo’s tagline - Creating new destinies - encompasses the mission at Passages, to create opportunities for a brighter future. I hope you enjoy the fresh new look.

The Passages Management Committee thanks Scott Print for printing this newsletter.

Joint Venture Partners: Founding Partners:

Rotary Club of Perth

The Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus Jerusalem

Guerilla gardeners of a different sort hit Passages in mid 2009. A group of volunteers comprising of locals and university students from Lipscomb University, located in Nashville, Tennessee, came to give the outside of the service a stunning makeover. The volunteers were organised by Antioch Way. Antioch Way is a local network of Christian communities who have been assisting marginalised people for the past three years.

Even though the rains came, the volunteers were able to finish what they started. Some of the projects undertaken were; to build a garden wall, plant native trees and vegetables, pull weeds, mulch, and clean up around the place. A huge thanks to all who were able to take part in the day and to Antioch Way for the in kind donations to the service!

Passages Resource Centre held a Christmas lunch on the 16th December 2009. Clients normally don’t look forward to Christmas as it reminds them of what they don’t have and how their lives are heading in a different direction to what they had hoped for.

Passages start the Christmas luncheon by decorating the service and setting up the Passages Christmas tree, ready for when we first open. Decorating for Christmas is something our clients very rarely get to experience and allows them to get into the Christmas spirit. Then the young people who would like to learn how to cook a traditional Christmas lunch have the opportunity to do so with staff assistance. They get involved in setting out the lunch table, wearing party hats and enjoying Christmas crackers and punch.

The luncheon attracted over 30 clients and staff from Street Doctor, Drug and Alcohol Youth Service, Step One, Centrelink and Youthlink to attend Passages in a relaxed, inviting environment. Everyone gets to sample all the delicious Christmas foods including roast turkey, pork and leg of ham, roasted vegetables and salads. For dessert we had fruit salad, Pavlova and ice-cream.

One client commented on how they really enjoyed the lunch and catching up with friends, Passages staff and staff from other agencies. Another spoke about how they had never tried Turkey and he couldn’t believe how big the Turkey legs were. Passages Resource Centre runs workshops every Thursday starting

at 10.00am. The workshops consist of a variety of activities including arts and crafts, recreation, education sessions and outings.

This year Passages is continuing to engage other agencies in the workshops by involving their service and outlining the services they provide during the education workshops. This year we are also continuing to develop and implement the E3 program within the workshops. Many of our clients have been involved in the E3 program and expressed that it is a positive and enjoyable program.

As part of the Thursday workshops, we have included outings that have an education component in relation to local landmarks around Perth and surrounding areas. On the 21st of January, the Passages team took clients to Penguin Island (off the Rockingham coast) and both clients and staff enjoyed learning about the Island. Both small penguins and pelicans reside on the island and the clients were able to observe the small penguins malting their feathers and the pelicans breeding and looking after their youth. Penguin Island is one of nine breeding places for the pelican in the world, so it was incredibly special to witness such a rare occurrence. This outing educated clients about respecting the environment that we live in and was also a great day to develop rapport between clients and staff.

Gardeners Work TheirMagic at Passages

PassagesWorkshops

Empower, Engage &Encounter with E3

Passages Resource Centre Christmas Lunch

Over the past year a new program, E3, has been running at Passages. The purpose is to engage at-risk young people in multiple volunteering experiences locally, nationally, and globally. In doing so, clients are able to raise their employability, increase life skills, and gain more awareness of the impact volunteering has on their surroundings.

Some clients have already engaged in a range of local day projects which have included activities such as tree planting, weed excavation and mulching. In November 2009, Passages traveled to 80 Mile beach near Broome where clients participated in a remote 10 day project.

This project was part of Phase II of E3, where a team of eight people (four from Passages) engaged in sea turtle monitoring, marine debris surveying, and track identification. In addition to these activities, Passages clients were able to complete a Certificate I in Active Volunteering.

The program has been a complete success. Some of the things our clients have said are, “This was the most incredible experience I have ever had” and “I am so glad I was able to participate in something that I not only started, but finished!”

Currently, E3 is participating in monthly day projects and is planning to go on a weeklong project in May and another 10 day project in September!

Workshop Outline Jan - June 2010 Workshops

Date Activity

14-Jan E3 Mulching for Conservation

21-Jan Penguin Island Excursion

28-Jan Cricket

4-Feb Sexual Health Workshop

11-Feb Valentine's Day Card Making/E3

18-Feb Cricket

25-Feb SciTech

1-Mar Legal Workshop

8-Mar Potato Heads

18-Mar Ice Skating

25-Mar Volleyball

1-Apr Easter Egg Making

8-Apr Pregnancy Education

15-Apr Youth Week Activity - Fremantle Prison

22-Apr Sport

29-Apr Ceramics

6-May Rental Property Processes

13-May Movies

20-May Canoeing/Caterman

27-May Indigenous Art

3-Jun Photography

10-Jun The Maze

17-Jun Paddle Pop Stick Container's

24-Jun Kite Making and Flying