Sitting with four volunteers and employees of a youth based support group will always make you feel a mix bag of inspired, and bloody useless for not helping out yourself. Speaking to these four young members of the Freedom Centre community, you can’t help but admire their sense of energy and responsibility surrounding their support for our struggling youth.
The Freedom Centre is a peer based support group that is managed by the WA AIDS Council. It has been running since 1994. The centre is run by youth who identify as having a diverse sexuality and/or gender, offering support to those who are struggling with coming out, feeling isolated or just need support from their community in general.
Speaking to the volunteers offered an insight into the key elements of the Freedom Centre, and why YOU should visit if you fall into any of the above categories. Here are a few key points:
It is completely confidential:
One thing emphasised by the team is that visiting the Freedom Centre is a completely confidential experience; Bryan, a member of staff, explained, “we won’t approach you on the street outside so you don’t have to worry about bumping into us. It won’t be a situation like ‘we recognise you from that gay place!’ – that’s not going to happen.”
It is a whole heap of fun:
Visitors of the Freedom Centre are mostly in control of what activities they do whilst there. Questions on their favourite activity generated different responses. For Oskar, it’s the 1000 piece puzzle they’re currently completing “we’re failing but I WILL finish it!”
Bryan favours a good game of Twister, whilst Sophia preferences “the frequency of really good conversations and the way things get talked about. I still remember the warm fuzzies I got from the last retreat!”
It introduces you to the queer community:
For newly recruited volunteer Tyrone, he wishes he had discovered the Freedom Centre earlier on “I suppose having not headed down to the Freedom Centre when I was a young gay I kind of wish I had taken the opportunity to go because it’s a lot more open than I ever would have thought.”
He continues to explain, ”for young people 16 or younger, definitely head down.” Don’t feel you can only go if you’re explicitly gay, or if you haven’t decided. It’s an awesome place to go and feel comfortable whilst struggling to understand who you are. Talking to likeminded people, you can’t really get anything but a positive experience out of it.”
It can connect you to other services you might be seeking:
The Freedom Centre can link and inform you on different services that you previously would not have known about, to assist in any varied struggles you might have.
Take the First Step – Come and Visit:
“One of the volunteers or staff will open the door and greet you and get to know you, we’ll then come with you into the room and introduce you to other people, we’ll point out who else is on the shift. It’s not long before other visitors will come and say hi, we don’t sit and quiz you about everything”, said Bryan.
A young person that deserves a mention:
Everyone that volunteers, visits and works at the Freedom Centre should be recognised as an exceptional member of the young queer community. Those involved in the Freedom Centre are part of a support system unlike any other in Australia, with peer-based counselling that empowers the community and eradicates isolation. One Freedom Centre worker that particularly caught the eye of the OUTinPerth team, however, is Olivia Knowles, aged 24.
Olivia started volunteering at the Freedom Centre in July 2009; she began working as an employed Peer Educator in September of last year.
What’s unusual about Olivia’s story is that she began helping visitors of the Freedom Centre with their battle in sexual identity, before she had completely come to terms with her own. Googling ‘gay Perth’ upon realising she might be gay, Olivia started volunteering before she had even come out to her own family.
Speaking humbly about the experience, Olivia explains: “I didn’t have any idea where to start! My search came up with the Gay and Lesbian Community Services (GLCS) so I called them and they referred me to the Freedom Centre.”
When asked about discovering her sexuality, Olivia admitted “I think I’m still working out a few things, I’ve had a lot of questions, like ‘does this mean I have to cut my hair short? Do I have to do XYZ?’ “
Olivia’s work doesn’t stop at the Freedom Centre; she’s a crew officer for the Youth Educating Peers Project. She’s also worked the Leavers Sexual Health Program called KISS in Dunsborough, educating youth on safe sex. Olivia also studies gender and sexuality at university, and hopes to continue working with youth and sex education.
When it comes to volunteering, Olivia encourages everyone to give it a shot, but make sure it’s something you’re passionate about. “I think I remember when someone asked me ‘are you doing it more for you? Or are you doing it for young people?’ You have to want to get something out of it to put everything in to it. I wanted to meet more people; I wanted to find out more. I was just interested in meeting other young people and hearing their stories”.
You can find more information on the Freedom Centre visit here.
Nadine Walker
