Stay up to date with what Flat Out are doing:
Youth Crime
By Stacey Stokes
Remanding a child in custody is not going to fix their behavior. It's going to cement it. They will walk into the darkness with the rest of us who are cast aside. The only ones they can now relate to and feel comfortable with will be other criminals.
We aren't evil. We are just broken people. But when we are fixed, it counts for nothing. You hate the things we did. So, we are given no place in your society.
Beyond Bricks & Bars Evaluation Launch
The Beyond Bricks & Bars (BBB) team launched their very first evaluation report to a full house, earlier this week.
In memory of Michele Old
By Flat Out
Michele was the rock and heart of Flat Out for 13 years. Hers was the warm welcoming presence that women encountered when they came to or rang Flat Out. Her death is a huge loss to the community sector and we have collected tributes and recollections on Michele and her time at Flat Out.
Reflecting and looking forward
Last week, the Flat Out held a 2-day retreat where Board members and workers started the process of developing our next strategic plan.
Flat Out at Renegade Footy
We raised money for Flat Out running the community BBQ at the Renegade Football game day on Saturday 24 June. Thanks to the volunteers and all the folk who braved the wild weather and came along!
Social Work Placement at Flat Out
By Georgette Thomas-Page
I have been privileged to do my final social work placement at Flat Out. As a soon to be human services worker with so much to learn, it has been a unique opportunity to hone my values, both personal and professional, and be in an environment that allows me to put those values into practice.
Perpetrators
By Rachael Hambleton, Flat Out board member
Death is awkward. Categorical. For the last two years my dad’s ashes have sat on my windowsill, in a small vile adorned with a sage coloured tassel that I pulled off a candle. I could endure bereavement; it was everything else that became unmanageable. I naively wanted to stuff my grief into some small internal crevice, accessing it at appropriately allocated times for processing, slowly decompressing until I’d skipped right past trauma and reached the illustrious post-traumatic growth.