On May 28th, our very own NDIS Employment Coach, Brodie, presented to students and staff at Compass Catholic Community as part of their Reconciliation Week celebrations. Currently supporting several of the Compass students to achieve their goals, he was invited to share his story ‘As an Aboriginal Man' with students who may empathise and connect with his journey. During the presentation, Brodie gave a powerful and heartfelt account of some of the challenges he has faced in his life. He talked about the importance of learning, understanding and connecting with his culture to give him the resilience and strength to not only overcome those challenges but to build a better life for himself and his kids, who he describes as his ‘biggest driver’ to keep going. “𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 [𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦]. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 - 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.” “𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰, [𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥] 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺.” Brodie has received outstanding feedback for his work in our NDIS-funded Stepping Out program. The team is incredibly proud of his progress and excited to see how he will continue to support Participants in achieving their goals. Learn more about our Stepping Out program at blueskymindstudio.com.au/stepping-out.