Ethan’s journey in foster care began when he was two. He shares how it felt to be raised by people who barely knew him but still loved him as their own son.
“My carers were kind, loving, supportive. No matter what I tried to do, they’ve always been supporting me through, and always just behind me.”
Currently, 681 children and young people are in our care and we’ve helped 1,122 over the last five years.
Ethan has received support from a case worker at Wesley Dalmar to achieve his goals. “It was a great deal of consistency,” he says. “Knowing that I had just the one person I could talk to if I needed help.”
This year marks the centenary of Wesley Dalmar’s relocation to Carlingford – expanding our care of children which dates back to 1893. That was when the Sydney Central Methodist Mission (as we were known then) opened a ‘Home for Neglected Children’ in Woolloomooloo. The 14-room home was generously offered rent-free by the philanthropist Ebenezer Vickery.
Today, much of our work serving children, young people and families is in partnership with our wonderful foster families, through out-of-home care.
As our teams provide this empowering and life transforming service, they often have the privilege of seeing extraordinary outcomes. Like Ethan’s.
Ethan is now in his second year at university, supported by the Wesley Dalmar Scholarship, which helps him pay his expenses and tuition fees. He has been giving back to his community, developing a workshop focused on how caseworkers can better support foster children like himself. Well done on your achievements, Ethan
*Name and photo changed to protect privacy