16/12/2020
Thankyou to the amazing team at Emerge for the work they do for our region's youth. Please consider a donation or a visit to their cafe this Christmas.
I found myself welled up with tears at the lights on my way home today just thinking about the kids who are just surviving this Christmas... I’m a youth worker first and a CEO second and spend a lot of my time on the ground with our kids and while I like to think I’m pretty hardened to the crisis many of our young people face I just suddenly felt so overcome with sadness this year knowing how bloody sh*tty it will be for so many of the kids we work with and more so how sh*tty it’s always been for them.
Most people know us as a cafe that employs at-risk youth and as a safe place where young people can drop in and see our youth workers, access meals and get some help in getting things on track.
But did you know that a lot of our work is in outreach? Our youth workers spend many hours a week checking in with kids, making sure they are ok and creating soft plans to help them engage with our service or others.
Sometimes it’s a soft hello and a laugh, more often it’s showing up and helping kids get through some pretty sh*tty stuff; watch houses, court rooms, alley ways and ubers/ pick ups out of some crappy situations.
There are approximately 40 young people on our check in list this Christmas, 5 kids staying in our lighthouse accommodation, couch surfing, living in unsafe environments or engaging in dangerous activities. Unfortunately many more spending Christmas in detention (or fortunately so they are taken care of if that’s how you want to look at it)
Our first hampers and emergency packs are already being handed out to kids who are doing it tough this Christmas and we will continue this outreach all through the holidays.
I want to take this time to thank each and every one of you who have donated hampers, gifts, money and of course those who support our cafe.
To me it means everything to know I can continue to take care of them, and to them... well it means the world.
It takes a village and I’m so blessed to be a part of this one.
If you’d like to support Emerge this Christmas pop down and see us at the cafe this week or pop through a one time or regular tax deductible donation to
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/YBVQ4ZXY02AVZ/checkout/ZM52G5URPDHOZQ35PCAGPWTS