We believe that there are five key pillars to support young Tasmanians. To help young people reach their full potential they need to be: healthy, housed, learning, employed, and Empowered.
We believe that programs supporting young people across all five pillars of support are critical to helping our youth achieve their goals. Building and creating long term, meaningful support networks underpins all of our programs.
Healthy
Colony 47 knows that young people in transition to work and in youth accommodation facilities need support to manage their mental health which can be a significant barrier to achieving their goals. There is currently an urgent need for a youth focussed clinical mental health service to be provided to responsively address the needs of young people and staff.
Housed
Colony 47 knows that the best place for young people to be is in a safe, supportive and nurturing family home. Yet we also understand that there are growing numbers of young people who are experiencing homelessness due to family breakdown. Colony 47 believes that earlier intervention for young people and their families can prevent youth homelessness and increase school retention.
Colony 47 is also exploring the opportunities to create a pool of available existing housing stock that is safe, secure and close to services, education and employment opportunities for young people as they transition to independent living.
Learning
Colony 47 knows that young people are successful when they can develop their skills and talents in an environment that respects and recognises that they may have vocational rather than academic pathways and careers ahead.
Employed
Colony 47 knows that young people having accommodation that is supported and is accessible to services, education and employment is critical to giving them the best opportunities in life. Colony 47 believes that industry pathways such as those provided by the tourism and hospitality industry can be a breakthrough step for people to access vocational training and employment opportunities.
Colony 47 also knows that with siginificant growth in employment in this sector that a purpose built and designed foyer model dedicated to meeting the needs of young people training and working in this sector would be an amazing opportunity.
Empowered
Colony 47 knows that the voices of service users whether they are housing connect clients or young people is critical to getting the right services in place to meet their needs. It is also important that housing clients and young people have the skills and training to fully participate in our community.
Colony 47 is a passionate champion of the need for our clients and young people to be recognised as experts and to share the experiences and insights they can bring to changing attitudes about people who can be disadvantaged in our community.
