Since the late 1800s, Wesley Mission has been providing safe, caring home environments for children and young people who cannot live with their families. Recently, we celebrated 100 years of Wesley Dalmar, now our foster families program which today supports 826 children and young people.
Northern Rivers local, Christian*, is one of those young people. At 17, Christian is currently living in foster care and has aspirations of joining the Royal Australian Air Force as a chef when he finishes school. Every Wednesday, he spends the day at the Dove Cafe in Ballina where he’s learning practical skills that will equip him for a successful future.
The Dove is a fully functioning cafe and catering service that offers young people transitioning from Wesley Dalmar foster care the building blocks to create successful foundations for adulthood and the opportunity to learn hospitality on the job.
“The whole concept came about to give young people some solid transferable life skills and real work experience in industry,” says Cafe Manager Trent Morgan, “We’re empowering these young people and all the while the whole community is benefiting from the cafe.”
For Christian, working at the Dove also means he can complete a Certificate II in hospitality through a school based traineeship that will stand him in good stead for his Australian Defence Force application.
“I do a bit of everything but serving customers is my favourite part of the job,” says Christian, “When I first started, I found it hard chatting to customers but now my confidence has grown and I find it easy.”
Christian is just one of the young people to benefit from The Dove program, and for him, it means he can apply for his dream job in the Air Force knowing the steps he’s taken have set him on the right path for success.