Noah first came into Youturn’s residential care program as a 14 years old. Prior to this, he had experienced a childhood filled with trauma, rejection and homelessness. He asked the Department of Child Safety for support in a residential care house that could provide him with these unmet needs.

The structure and stability within the program allowed Noah to thrive and heal, as he re-engaged in school and reconnected with his culture and family. After 2 ½ years, his skills, resilience and independence grew allowing him to progress to more independent living arrangements.

Moving to our Supported Independent Living (SILS) Program Noah started considering his future.  After going through several options, he set his heart on the Army Indigenous Development program within the Australian Defense Force.

This lead to six months of Noah’s life, where he showed sheer grit and determination. Supported by our SILS team and the Department, he increased his physical fitness with high intensity physical training and successfully passed the multiple levels of assessments required for entry into the program.

Accompanied by his SILS care team and his Child Safety Officer, Noah was presented with his official letter of Enlistment before travelling to Wagga Wagga NSW in June this year to commence his official development training.

Noah provides the Care Team with regular updates on his progress and even talks about his struggles and at times still asks for advice and reassurance. He mentioned that his peers had been putting photos of their families on their walls.  Noah requested some photos of his Youturn Care Team so he could put them on his wall.  “ You are like my family and looking at the photos will give me motivation to keep going.”  

Noah successfully completed and graduated from the Army Indigenous Development Program training.  Unfortunately due to Covid-19 Noah’s Care Team were unable to fly down to Wagga Wagga and be present for Noah’s March Out and Ceremony however Noah will graduate to Basic Training of the Australian Defence Force where there will be another opportunity for Noah’s Care Team to fly down to witness his next graduation.

“ You are like my family and looking at the photos will give me motivation to keep going.”