Highlands and Youth@bility Newsweb

Youth@bility Newsweb is a Community Jobs Project funded by Highlands Personnel through the State Government Initiative Program. This program is mainly targeting the disabled and youth to give them an understanding of the many services and programs available to help them develop links within their community and potentially gain entry into the workforce.

The staff at Youth@bility Newsweb would like to thank all the team of Highlands Personnel for their great ideas and dedication that made this project possible.

Jenny has been working with young people for the past 10 years, and joined Highlands Personnel three years ago. Jenny is the head of YouthAbility, formally known as the Young Jobseekers Program. Highlands Personnel started this program because a lot of young people with disabilities were coming out of school not knowing how to access information on employment opportunities and further education.

YouthAbility is a program specially designed for young people with a disability between 15-24 years old.

Jenny said she enjoys working with young people because she finds it rewarding in seeing her clients succeed in life.

One of Jenny's highlights while working at Highlands Personnel have been setting up the Youth@bility Newsweb community jobs program, and seeing the group develop, with great enthusiasm.

Jenny states one of her personal highlights has been "helping young people that feel like they've got nowhere to go, and show them directions and to see them going in a positive direction has been huge for me!"
Jenny's goal for the future is to make Youth@bility the best possible program for young people with disabilities in Ballarat and to initiate more programs like Youth@bility.

Rachael Lynch and Derrick Gray
Youth@bility Reporter

JAMIE GOVAN
YOUTHABILITY Case Manager

Jamie Govan has recently started work for a program called YouthAbility, that is run by Highlands Personnel.When working with his clients, Jamie says he feels a great sense of satisfaction if his client is able to obtain employment of any sort, gain a high level of self-esteem and the confidence to do everyday tasks.

Jamie(right) at work with a client

Jamie stated that the most interesting feature of his work is to remove barriers preventing his clients from getting a job. Jamie also said there were many disabilities he had not heard of when joining the YouthAbility team, but he has learnt a great deal about disabilities in a very short time.

Derrick Gray
Youth@bility Reporting Team

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