Scholarship Program 2008
     
  2007 Scholarship Recipients
     
  2006 Scholarship Recipients
     
  2005 Scholarship Recipients
     
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Youth Off The Streets congratulate their 2008 scholarship recipients and thanks the 2008 sponsors.

Below are details of each young person and the award they received.
   
 

The A & DJ Building Services Scholarship
Awarded to Redwan ('CJ') from Carlton, VIC

CJ is from Eritrea. His father has passed away and his mother has been unable to join the rest of the family in Australia. CJ lives with his brother in Carlton. He is currently enrolled in Certificate III Furnishing (triple trade) VCAL at the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE and shows skill in this area. He wants to pursue a career in furniture making and his scholarship will assist with ongoing studies in this field.

   
 

The Australian Youth & Health Foundation Scholarship
Awarded to Angus from Dandenong, VIC

Angus was forced to leave home to live with an aunt, due to ongoing tension with his family. Angus has relocated and is now completing his year 10 at a new school. His scholarship funds will be used to support him through his VCE.

   
 
The iinet Scholarship
Awarded to M from Sydney, NSW

M lost her mother about 12 months ago and having no other family support she was forced to move interstate with her sister. Both the girls were placed under DOCs care and M currently lives in a youth refuge. She is committed to her education and is completing year 11 in 2008. She aims to finish school and progress on to a Design/Information Technology course at TAFE.
   
 
The Mary Rossi Travel Scholarship
Awarded to Melissa from Dee Why, NSW

Melissa is a single mother of two children, Madison & Krista. Having spent some time out of formal education, Melissa is enrolled in the first year of a three year Accountancy and Business Management Course at TAFE. Her scholarship will assist with child care costs and educational requirements.
   
 

The McAlpine Family Scholarship
Awarded to Amanda from Kingaroy, QLD

Amanda lives in rural Queensland and has a passion for agriculture. She began her studies in agriculture at college earlier this year, but has found the costs very difficult to cover. Amanda hopes to gain a traineeship in the field of agricultural services and complete her studies at TAFE while working. Ultimately Amanda hopes to restore her family property into a successful business.

   
 
The Goodwin Chivas Scholarship
Awarded to Lucy from Darlington Point, NSW

Lucy is currently studying year 12 and aims to progress to university to further her skills in Business Management. She is an Indigenous/Pacific Islander student who is a positive role model within her community. Although she has considerable personal support her parents, her scholarship will be used to take some financial strain off the family.
   
 

The Meredith Ryan Scholarship
Awarded to Huai from Woodridge, QLD

Huai and her two sisters fled from Burma to India, leaving the rest of their family behind. Her family have been affected by the political unrest and the situation has gradually become more dangerous for young women. The three sisters relocated to Australia in November 2007 on humanitarian visas. Huai's older sister supports her younger siblings as they aim to complete high school. Huai wants to continue on to university, where she would like to study computer programming.

   
 
The Morgan Stanley Scholarship
Awarded to Jessica from Bawley Point, NSW

Jessica has had very little parental support and has lived independently for 12 months. She is a promising student who will sit for her HSC exams in 2008. Jessica aims to continue her studies with the long term goal of joining the mounted police. Her scholarship will be used to support these goals.
   
 

The Australian Youth & Health Foundation Scholarship
Awarded to Rhode from Brisbane, QLD

Rhode is an exceptional dancer. He has trained to professional level Latin dance and is currently preparing for grade six classical ballet. His goal is to become a professional dancer. He no longer has a relationship with his family and is dependent on his own efforts to continue funding his education. The scholarship will support him to complete his classical ballet education at university.

   
 

The Jordi Slater Scholarship
Awarded to Daniel from Shepparton, VIC

Daniel is unable to live at home and currently lives with a family friend. Although he disengaged from school early in his secondary school years, he has recently returned to formal education and is working hard to achieve his year 12. His teachers consider him to be a young man with outstanding potential and his scholarship will be used to support him to finish school. His goal is to work with youth in the field of sport and recreation.

   
 
The Pacific West Foods Scholarship
Awarded to Cherie from Melton, VIC

Over the last few years Cherie has provided care to her mother, who suffers from a psychiatric disability. With five siblings in the family, Cherie also copes with a great deal of responsibility in regards to their support. Having first hand experience of the effects of mental illness, Cherie would like to complete her VCE and continue on to university to study psychology. Currently in year 10, her scholarship funds will be used to support her schooling and assist with extra-curricular activities that the family are often unable to afford.
   
 

The Laurance Family Scholarship
Awarded to Karryn from Geelong, VIC

Karryn has had an unstable home life, with little to no financial support from her parents. She is living independently with her 19 year old brother and they struggle to make ends meet. Karryn has a love of animals and is currently undertaking VET animal studies certificate II at TAFE on top of her year 11 studies. She would like to go on to work in this area and her scholarship funds will be used to support her as she completes her year 12 and continues on to tertiary studies.

   
 

The Slingsby Holdings Scholarship
Awarded to Ayen from Dandenong, VIC

Ayen has spent a significant amount of time in refugee camps in Kenya & Ethiopia fleeing the violence in Sudan. She is the eldest of nine children and much of the care giving responsibility has fallen to her since she has moved to Australia. At school Ayen has shown herself to be a student with strong academic ability. Supported by her father, she would like to continue on to tertiary education studies in nursing. Her funds will be used for school expenses and leadership training.

   
 

The Laurance Family Scholarship
Awarded to Peter from Gladstone, QLD

Peter has had limited family support since the age of 12. He is self-reliant and resilient and aims to gain a boiler making or fabrication apprenticeship. He shows talent in the field of metal work and machine use and his scholarship will be used to support his training.

   
 

The Lord Mayors Charitable Fund Scholarship
Awarded to Rebecca from Shepparton, VIC

Rebecca is unable to live at home and has no parental support network. She currently lives with her sister in rural Victoria. She has been a student at Shepparton Adult and Community Education Inc for the past two and a half years and plans to finish VCAL this year. She takes a leadership role and is a positive role model amongst her peers. She also works at the education centre on a voluntary basis for one day a week. She would like to continue on to tertiary education to study Liberal Arts in 2009 and her ultimate goal is to study to become a teacher.

   
 
The Northern Beaches Social Riders Scholarship
Awarded to Ryan from Langwarrin, VIC

Ryan's mother suffered a serious work injury, which has left her disabled. For the past 5 years, Ryan and his brother have taken on full responsibility for her care. Along with the cost of treatment, Ryan's father lost his business due to the considerable work time he spent taking Ryan's mother to and from hospital. This placed the family under considerable financial strain; at times fighting to get by. Ryan's ambition is to be a Lighting, Visual and Audio Technician at large events. He has enrolled in certificate II in Applied Electro Technology and has started a work placement with a mentor in the field. His scholarship funds will be used for training and travel expenses for his work placements.
   
 

The Coorparoo Foundation Scholarship
Awarded to Pasha from the Gold Coast, QLD

Pasha has considerable talent in performing arts and has trained in drama for the last five years. Pasha receives little personal support from his family and lives independently. Pasha left school early due to homophobic assaults. Despite the challenges, he has continued to build up his skills and has achieved a certificate IV in clothing production. Pasha will be completing his school certificate through TAFE and his goal is to progress further with training at the Australian Acting Academy and NIDA (or similar institution).

   
 

The Youth Off The Streets Scholarship
Awarded to Nate from Marsfield, NSW

Nate had to leave home 5 months ago and receives no financial from his family. He lives independently and struggles every week to meet his expenses. He has a genuine interest in personal training and health and has ambitions to complete certificates III and IV in Fitness Training. In the past, he has been unable to afford to enrol. His scholarship funds will be used over the next two years so that he can complete this training and pursue employment in the field.

   
 
The Nix Spilt Milk Design Scholarship
Awarded to Joel from Brooklyn Park, SA

Joel has genuinely turned his life around in the last few years. He has reconciled with his family and has realised the value of improving his education in order to increase possibilities for future employment. He is a naturally gifted artist and has the long term aim of completing a degree in Fine Arts at the University of South Australia. Having had interrupted education, he has now developed a logical pathway to reach this goal, which includes enrolling in a number of stages of TAFE studies over the next two years.
   
 

The Farrell Foundation
Awarded to Sarah from Nundah, QLD

Sarah is a single mother who currently lives in supported accommodation. She knows that she has a natural talent for working with children and would like to pursue this as a career path. Over the next two years, she aims to complete a Certificate IV in Children's services through TAFE open learning. Her scholarship will assist with childcare, fees and books, so that she can focus on her studies.

   
 

The Wawrzyniak Family Scholarship
Awarded to Heidi from Adelaide, SA

Heidi is completing her year 12 in 2008 and plans to continue on to university to study a social work degree. Her teachers at St Aloysius College commend her for her integrity and commitment to her studies, despite personal challenges she has faced over the last few years. Heidi lives with her sister and her sister's husband who provide her with family support. Her scholarship funds will be used towards the cost of her university studies.

   
 
The Virtual Display Group Scholarship
Awarded to James from Sydney, NSW

James is an ex student of Youth Off The Streets' Surry Hills school, Key College. After spending most of his teens bouncing between refuges and juvenile detention, James worked very hard to stabilise his accommodation, complete his schooling and gain a traineeship. James is now almost finished a diploma in Horticulture Just 2 weeks out of surgery, where he had a tumor removed from his spine. James would like to start his own business and will use his scholarship to gain extra training in small business management, get a drivers licence and purchase the tools he will need to get his business off the ground.
   
 
Youth Off The Streets thank the patrons of the Scholarship Program; Mike Munro, John Stanley & Denis Handlin Thank you also to the 2008 Selection Committee; Father Chris Riley, John Stanley, Mary Lopez, Wendy Tierney, Libby Koch, Rebecca Lynch, Barbara Holborow, Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn and Christine Bullivant.

If you would like more information on nominations or sponsorship for the 2008 Scholarship Program please call the Youth Off The Streets Development Office on (02) 9330 3500 or email info@youthoffthestreets.com.au



CELEBRATION OF YOUTH DINNER 2008

The 2008 'Celebration of Youth' Dinner was held in the ballroom at the Hilton Hotel Sydney on August 30th.

Twenty two young people from throughout Australia were presented their scholarships during the evening and guests were entertained by sensational performances by Raymond Crowe, The Rat Pack, John Morrison's Swing City and the Youth Off The Streets Vocal Group.

Hosted by David Koch, the event was a huge success, with fundraising on the night raising essential funds towards Youth Off The Streets Programs. Our thanks go to our generous sponsors, gift donors and entertainers and to all the guests who attended the evening.

Click here to see photos of the evening, compliments of 247 Photography.