Meet Jack — a good news story!

We want to share a good news story with you, one involving a Launceston kid called Jack*. He caught the attention of Teen Challenge director Tanya Cavanagh as he frequented the Hope Thrift store during school hours, still wearing his uniform. Over the course of a month, she took the opportunity to chat with him and discovered that he was part-time at school.

 “Something about Jack piqued my curiosity, so I made contact with his school,” Tanya said. 

 “During a meeting with the school’s assistant principal, armed only with Jack’s first name and a general description of his appearance, I learnt more of his story. It took Jack two buses and nearly two hours to get to school each day for just an hour of schooling. He was one of their two highest needs students, and the staff summed up the last case management meeting for him, held the day before, in the one word ‘despair’.”

 Then, Tanya showed up.

 “The AP was blown away that I wanted to speak with them about Jack in a positive way — I was offering him a mentoree position at Hope Thrift twice a week,” Tanya said.

 The atmosphere in the room shifted from despair to excitement and anticipation. Jack was called into the office and told the news, which he took in his easy, teen manner, keeping it ‘cool’. But within an hour of Tanya leaving the school and returning to her office at Hope Thrift, she heard Jack’s voice in the shop.

 “He was proudly telling Elodie that he was going to work in the shop!” Tanya laughed.

 After a behind-the-scenes tour of the store that day, Jack has now been coming to the store for nearly a month. 

 “We initially only allowed about one and a half hours per session for him, but it’s not uncommon for Jack to stay for closer to three hours as he learns more about retail and the preparation of items for sale.”

Connection has been made with Jack’s mum, who pops in from time to time to have a 

chat and a cup of tea with the team. Just last week she reached out to find help for a homeless girl with some clothing, which the Hope Thrift team arranged. 

“Jack’s really fitting in well and comes up with some great ideas in the store,” Tanya said.

“He loves spending time with customers and he’s now a much-loved member 

of our team.”

*Name changed for privacy.