Our stories

To celebrate National Youth Week at SHINE, we are sharing the voice and experience of a young person we supported through our mentoring program Stand As One. This is his story.

“When I first went into custody, I didn’t think I should be there and it was really stressful. I felt like I was losing my mind. It was bad, being locked up and accused of doing something.

Having a mentor helped me as it gave me someone separate to everything else to talk to about what was going on and who wasn’t judgemental. My family was judgemental, I couldn’t talk with them and I had no one else.

We would chat about what was going on in the centre, any problems there or with my family on the outside. I had someone just for me to help me work through everything.

Talking with my mentor helped me keep my head clear so I could make decisions fast. If something happened and someone gave me a hard time, I didn’t jump to conclusions, I could make better decisions in the moment because my head wasn’t all clogged up.

My mentor kept me positive, he helped me make goals for when I got out. I wanted to work in mechanics or construction.

I’m out now and we are still close, we talk about once a month on the phone. We chat about work, life, family, joke about the football.

We’ve become really close, he’s one the people I’m closest to actually.

S**t happens, but you get through it.

Life is going heaps great now. I’ve got my own house, a family, everything is on track.

My next goal is to get my driving Ps so I can start my own business. I’m getting close.

About SHINE for Kids, I’d say there’s nothing you can lose and everything to gain. Having a mentor really helped me when I was going through a hard time.”