2022 was a big year for Human Nature – not only for our team, but for our entire community. Individual therapeutic support for youth provides a safe and personalised space for young individuals to navigate challenges, build resilience, and achieve emotional well-being.
For the young people we work with, this year brought some truly remarkable challenges. Many were disconnected from their friends and social support during COVID lockdowns and then they lost homes or schools in the floods. More than ever before, we saw young people experiencing real despair, hopelessness and anxiety for the future.
In many ways, it was a year that we’ll never forget. The loss and suffering was overwhelming. Maybe you felt it too.
But at the same time, we saw incredible displays of courage, strength and generosity. During the floods, we received donations and grant funding from organisations and individuals all across Australia, reaching our target and raising almost $100,000.
With support from our community, we achieved some incredible things this year.
We piloted a new program at a local school. This exciting opportunity allowed us to facilitate regular groups over eight weeks, inviting young people to provide their feedback so that we could learn what works best for them and find new ways to improve our service delivery.
We ran our flagship Recre8 therapeutic expedition program, offering a group of young people the opportunity to experience a life-changing 10-day adventure. For young people who’d experienced a natural disaster, this was an opportunity to reconnect with nature, with other young people who shared similar experiences and with our team of mental health professionals.
However, the number of referrals for our services increased by 200% after the floods. While our team continues to grow and we welcomed some lovely new humans to Human Nature this year, the need is still greater than we can meet.
Most importantly, we were inspired every day by the courage and tenacity of young people.
As we take this moment to pause and acknowledge what our community of donors and supporters have helped us achieve, we also look ahead to the new year and we’re hopeful it will bring good things.
We’ve already got some big projects in the pipeline that we can’t wait to share with you. You can expect to see more overnight camps and outdoor adventures, group activities designed and led by young people, skill-development workshops and a few new offerings added to our service delivery. Watch this space for more updates on individual therapeutic support!
Our team will be taking a well deserved break over the holiday period before coming back fresh in the new year. In the meantime, we wish you and your loved ones a very happy festive season.
Change a life this giving season
Contribute to our end of year appeal from as little as $20 and your donation can help make a difference to a young person’s life.
You could even make your donation in lieu of of gift for that tricky person who has everything or someone who you know would value the thought of supporting an organisation making a big difference to the lives of young people.