IT’S not unusual for someone to change careers midlife, in fact many do it as they seek new challenges.
Local mother of three Selena Walters joined those ranks two years ago and the challenge she took on has now led to changing many young people’s lives for the better.
Selena is the founder of the Ipswich based youth rehabilitation organisation, Fearless Towards Success (FTS).
The organisation is best described as a help centre for youths who are seeking a new start to a life that has gone badly astray.
“Most of the young people who come here have just been released from Juvenile Detention and we provide them with caring guidance as to how they can get their life back on track and importantly to stop them going back to lock-up,” Selena said.
“I started FTS after having worked in the Youth Detention education services which gave me an insight into why so many young offenders were continuing with their criminal ways and returning to Wacol.
“Many were lost when they were released, had no where to go and no one to help them get a job, some didn’t even have a place to sleep, they just went back to couch surfing.
“It was little wonder they just fell back into stealing cars and breaking into homes.”
With the assistance of Graeme Harding and the Cooper Property Group, FTS now has a permanent centre opposite Coles in the CBD where young people drop in and get help.
While the goals of Selena’s organisation are more than admirable, keeping her organisation and support team together has been difficult and she relies solely on government grants and community goodwill.
“Originally I put a lot of my own money into FTS to keep it afloat and I recall at one point I was driving home when my daughter phoned and asked me to grab some takeaway for dinner,” she said.
“I told her I couldn’t because I had only $5 in my purse, amazingly a Federal Government grant came through the next day saving the organisation.
“It meant I didn’t have to self-fund FTS, and we could continue our work.”
Selena said the support they offered to youth started right from the moment they walked through the FTS doors.
“We organise what they need to connect with Centrelink, we provide courses and activities and we try to link them with employers to give them a chance to get a job and be self-sufficient.
“A few companies have chipped in with jobs, but I would welcome others to come onboard to provide opportunities.
“We have a major youth crime epidemic at the moment and hopefully we are doing something about it.
“Detention does not motivate kids to change it just punishes them, change comes from within when you are not forced to but motivated to do so.”
