THE YOUNG WARRIOR WOMAN PROGRAM
The Warrior Woman Foundation provides support services for vulnerable young Australian women. Our flagship program, The Young Warrior Woman Program is a mentoring and psycho-educational program which provides connection, education, and support to young women 15-25 years of age transitioning from out of home care into independent living. Based on the three principals of the “Self Determination Theory”, the Young Warrior Woman Program is designed to reduce the stress involved in leaving care, learning to live autonomously, and preparing for adulthood.
We call our mentees “Young Warriors”. Each Young Warrior is supported by a group of mentors who we call “Wise Warriors”. These are caring, stable, and positive female role models from the local community who provide support, guidance and impart the wisdom of life experience. As an additional layer of support, our Young Warriors are supported by a group of peers who we call “Kindred Warriors”. These are young women who have life experience in foster/state care and have successfully transitioned into adulthood. Our Kindred Warriors bring real life stories of first-hand experience and provide valuable advice on how to navigate a successful transition into adulthood.
Together the mentors and mentees attend an intensive and structured six-month program consisting of fortnightly life skills education workshops, transformative presentations by inspirational speakers who have overcome personal adversity, and psycho-educational group therapy sessions. Additionally, each young woman participates in weekly one-on-one mentoring sessions. Meetings may be face to face, via the internet or over the phone (or a combination of the three) and are useful for revisiting goals or to generally ‘check in’. Mentors undergo thorough screening and intensive training prior to meeting their mentees.
PROGRAM DELIVERY STRATEGY
Connection
Support
Education
We teach the necessary life skills for young women to succeed in everyday life. These can be simple things like how to open a bank account or get a tax file number. Our mission is to empower young women to become strong independent women capable of taking their place in the world, so we believe it’s important for us to adopt a “teach a young woman to fish” approach. So, we are there to support and guide them through every step of the way knowing that true empowerment comes from them doing it themselves. Our goal is for every young woman who comes into our care, to leave with a strong sense of identity, confidence, and purpose.
OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAM
After the program, our “Young Warriors” will have achieved/or have the knowledge and skills to achieve the following:
- independent personal identity
- clear goals for present and future trajectory of education, training, and employment
- safe, stable place to call home with the ability to meet their own basic needs
- sense of belonging as part of the ongoing support of The Warrior Woman Foundation tribe
- the knowledge and ability to manage money and save for a financially secure future
- the skills to run a household
- the skills to travel autonomously via public transport
- strong links with health professionals and ongoing mental health support
- the ability to identify and retain healthy stable relationships
- the knowledge of legal rights and where to get support
- increased resilience
- increased confidence through autonomy
- positively contributing members of the community
- hope for the future.
For more information on The Young Warrior Woman program please contact the Warrior tribe warrior@warriorwoman.org.au