What Is It Built On?

Core Values:

These values are seen in all Fusion Empower Youth Services delivery:

• Creativity — Activities and events will be creative and use materials in original and fun ways to encourage participants’ creativity, imagination and inventiveness.
• Encouragement — The team will actively look for opportunities to celebrate young people and the team through participation.
• Respect — The program will operate from the following “norms:” Build people up; Help people grow Because people matter. This means that all people operate in a way that does not put others down or make them feel unsafe in any way.
• Inclusivity — Team members will work together to create a sense of safety, fun, open participation and a comfortable place within the school where young people can actively participate.
• Community — The team will intentionally build community within the school by looking for opportunities to facilitate interaction between young people and teachers in a positive fashion, to build harmony and encourage an environment of love, truth, creativity and responsibility.

Fundamentals:

The success of our service delivery relies upon the depth and legitimacy of the mentor-mentee relationship developed between youth workers and young people. For this reason, the program is specifically designed to optimise rapport and relationship building through games, discussion, small group activities and non-threatening teaching methods.

Four program delivery fundamentals underpin this strategy:

1. Strengths-Based Approach

FEYS is committed to a strengths-based approach to working with young people. Youth workers interact with participants in a manner that displays an essential belief in a young person’s ability to understand best their own needs, their innate personal power, and their capacity to make changes and take responsibility for their actions.

2. Empowerment Philosophy

FEYS believes every human being possesses a level of God-given power that is basic to the human condition and human rights. ‘Power’ is neither given nor removed by another person, societal structure, or organisation. Youth workers empower young people by directing them toward understanding and owning one’s power and the rights and responsibilities this entails.

3. Youth Friendly Manner

FEYS is committed to delivering programs in a non-judgmental, youth-friendly manner so that young people are valued, respected, and cared for. Youth workers create an atmosphere in which young people feel safe and comfortable. Dress, language, and rapport-building techniques reflect accordingly.

4. Relational Methodology

FEYS seeks to assist young people to understand their strengths and develop a framework of skills and reasoning that will enable them to act responsibly and positively. Youth workers facilitate this process by building healthy and appropriate relationships with participants. The skills and learning delivered through the program are best received through a relational dynamic, rather than an authoritarian or parent-like relationship.