Stacey

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday October 8, 2005

Words Daniel Lewis

When Stacey Ah-See finished school in Orange, she knew she wanted her independence but didn't have the confidence or know-how to achieve it.

The 19-year-old moved to Dubbo two years ago, but in the city on the Western Plains she was drifting about with no job and no permanent place to live and her prospects were bleak.

Stacey says she's the kind of person who always needs somebody to help her do things. The help she needed came from Mission Australia and the Job Placement, Employment and Training (JPET) scheme, run in partnership with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

It helps people aged from 15 to 21 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, have been offenders, are current or ex-wards of the state, refugees, people with drug and alcohol problems and behavioural problems, people lacking life skills, people without support structures such as family and those dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

Ann Winterton from Mission Australia's Dubbo office says: "This program assists the clients to set goals, be aware of their barriers and refers them to services for assistance with counselling, accommodation, education and employment. Once referred to these agencies, [the program] continues to support these clients with their individual goals."

People can be referred to the program by agencies such as Centrelink or they can sign themselves up. The Dubbo office helped Stacey get a place to live, get into TAFE and get employment by helping her deal with real estate agents, buying her new clothes for job interviews, helping her write job applications, giving counselling, organising work experience, helping draw up resumes and helping with the cost of textbooks.

Last year at TAFE she studied hairdressing and this year is doing beauty.

Now she has her own flat, works three evenings a week as a kitchen hand in a motel, attends TAFE two days a week and works every Saturday in a hairdressing salon run by the woman who taught her hairdressing at TAFE.

"I probably never would have been able to do it by myself," she says. "They kind of pushed me. They are very pushy, I guess you could say. Whatever I needed, they always pointed me in the right direction."

Nettie Dunn, the TAFE teacher who gave Stacey her Saturday job at Dubbo Hair City, says the program has been important in giving a very shy girl the help and confidence to achieve her goals.

The scene

She was drifting about with no job and no permanent place to live.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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