At the immigration museum, in Melbourne, they talk about the symbolic power of the suitcase - something a traveller takes with them (if lucky enough to have one) in hope or fear of the journey ahead. Since my bag had got lost in transit, it seemed rather appropriate to ponder its significance. Rather like a home, the suitcase is a material comfort zone, and to be without it has its own sense of displacement. But what was more important to me – the clothes in the bag, or the memories, feelings and ideas in myself? We pack stuff in the suitcase, when the important thing is what we unpack from ourselves through our connection with others.
The Foyer is the only service that has been fully shaped through Advantaged Thinking and Open Talent concepts from the very outset, so what you see in the building design, the staffing, the programme, and the community of young people, is an expression of the philosophies in practice.
I have been lucky on my third trip to Melbourne to be in the
company of the wonderful people from The Brotherhood of St Laurence and
Hanover. Friday, I got my first chance to visit the Kangan Foyer in
Broadmeadows, about 30 minutes outside the city centre, which last time I was
out here was just a concept and a set of drawings the organisations were
working on together with me. It was truly magical to see its bold, vibrant
colours rise up in the landscape, and then open the front door to the sign
‘welcome home’ hanging in reception.
And what a sight it is: space, light, colour, welcoming faces,
bundles of activity, places to do things, and all the vibrant chaos that makes
a community alive and real. With a huge kitchen area as the hub of the
service, a beautiful patio with views of the hills, and a mixed group of young
people from different backgrounds, you immediately feel part of a positive
family setting. Only the young people here are all called students – and the
point becomes very clear that this is about a collegiate environment to learn
and develop in, with access to all the facilities of the local college that
shares the same land area.
I was able to join in a session with the students talking
about what they thought the values of the Foyer are. I’ve always judged a
Foyer from how the people living and working inside interact with you as a
person, and I was gripped by the quality of the exchange in the session just as
much as in the informal conversations over a barbecue. The values recognised ranged
from being bold, aspirational and imaginative, to strength, consistency and
honesty, to teamwork, approachability and respect, to diversity and kindness,
openness and intuition. It was an amazing choice of words from an amazing group
of people. Who wouldn’t want to live among them?
One of the messages I am here to share on my trip is the
importance of using our values to invest real value in young people.
Adult institutions often think they are the guardian of values, but the reality
is that we lose sight of what our values mean, until we become their antithesis
in what we do and how we behave to each other. Look at some of our mean
spirited social policies, and the competition between organisations in the
charity sector, and you see exactly what happens when we lose our grip on what
defines us as humans. Maybe it’s the young people, the students of the Kangan
Foyer, who can best remind us of what we have lost in the baggage of growing
up. If values mean anything, they are defined in how we create
communities where we all feel at home.
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