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The Bernie Gerlinger Hope for the Future Scholarships provide support to young people who are clients of Concern Australia’s Steps Outreach Service. They are funded through club fundraising augmented by donations to the club in memory of Bernie Gerlinger. July 2023 - June 2024 Overview Steps Outreach Service provided the five recipients of the Scholarship program with ongoing relational and practical support. The scholarships enabled the young people to obtain appropriate school supplies, books, uniform and shoes. They were also able to participate in an extra-curricular activity and regular activities with their youth worker and volunteer mentor. The families were given groceries, food vouchers, and Rotary Christmas hampers to ensure that there was sufficient food in the house. Two of the recipients are now in Year 12. The first recipient is a boy who almost left school without completing Year 11. With support from the Steps team he stayed and has been participating in a SBAT course (School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships). At the end of 2023 he attained a Certificate II in Warehousing and Logistics which he was very proud of. In 2024, he has started Year 12 and is also studying a Certificate III in Warehousing and Logistics. This includes training and practical work and is a great employment pathway for him. The second recipient is a girl who has experienced out-of-home care and homelessness. She is currently couch-surfing at a friend’s place. She passed Year 11 in 2023, with high marks ranging from B+ to A+. She is now in Year 12 and committed to studying hard and achieving high marks to set her up for the future. A Steps youth worker meets with her weekly. Recipients three and four are in Year 10 The third scholarship recipient is a young man who lives with his father as his mother passed away last year. He is in Year 10 and also studying a Year 11 Physical Education subject. He plays football for a local team. He loves basketball but has not joined a team yet. He works part-time four nights a week washing dishes at a local pizza restaurant. He also works at the football canteen on weekends. He is a hard-working, polite, kind and engaging young man. This year, Steps supported him with school uniform, schoolbooks and supplies, school shoes and a mouthguard for football. The fourth recipient, a girl, is doing well at school and attained very good marks in 2023. Her favourite subjects are Maths and Chinese language. Steps supplied her with sports uniform, textbooks and school shoes. It provided the family with grocery vouchers during the year and gave them two Rotary hampers and a bag of gifts for Christmas which they were very grateful to receive. She is now in Year 10 and enjoying school. She has made friends at school and attends the Homework Club after school. She lives in public high-rise housing with her mother. The final recipient is in Year 4 and meeting with Steps’ youth worker on a weekly basis. He is on the autism spectrum. When he was referred to Steps last year, he was constantly getting into trouble at school which was disrupting his learning. He has now settled down at school and has made two friends. He is attending a ‘creating music’ after school activity. In each case, the modest but significant support provided through the scholarship program and the Steps team has enabled these young people to participate in school life in a way that would otherwise be unavailable to them. |
