It has now been four years since headspace Narre Warren opened their doors to offer mental health and wellbeing support to the Casey and Cardinia region, home to more than 65,000 young people aged between 12-25 years.
Since opening, headspace Narre Warren has become a pillar of youth wellbeing in the community, seeing over 3,835 young people across the community with 30% growth year on year. Their provision of services to the community are currently double the national average at 23,753.
headspace CEO Jason Trethowan spoke of each headspace centre being created with, and for, young people; ensuring all services, programs and facilities are welcoming and youth-friendly.
"Seeking help for any concerns troubling a young person takes a lot of courage, and headspace has made it easier for young people to come to the one place with all the support they need," he said.
Dean McCaughan, Centre Manager at headspace Narre Warren, said the service has most importantly been able to continue to provide outstanding services to young people and families amongst the high need for service that young people in the region are experiencing.
"I'm proud that not only are we a well accessed service, but we are also showing through our evaluation data that we are helping make a positive difference in the lives of young people who attend our service. We are continually innovative and adaptive to the needs of the community, with more recent enhancements to service through increased group programs, carer and peer support, and newly funded clinical programs. We are always looking at new ways to try and engage with young people and their support system."
A range of services are provided through the headspace Narre Warren centre targeting their four core pillars: mental health, physical and sexual health, alcohol and other drugs, and work and study support.
headspace Narre Warren is operated by EACH and funded through the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network.
Jemma, chair of headspace Narre Warren's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), spoke of how she and the rest of the YAC have enjoyed using their voices as young people to make meaningful change in the local community.
"The YAC has provided us with a platform to help better youth mental health outcomes - which we are all so passionate about! In the past, we've done this by hosting events in the community, such as free yoga and meditation sessions. At the moment, we have a number of projects in the works. We're looking into petitioning for a bus stop to be placed closer to our centre, in order to make our centre more accessible to young people who rely on public transport."
