By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE Narre Warren Headspace was officially opened on Friday, after three years in the planning.
The long-awaited Fountain Gate facility officially opened its doors this week and will join the Dandenong Headspace centre in providing mental health services to youths aged 12 to 25 in Melbourne’s south-east. The centre includes an Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC), and a Helping Young People Early (HYPE) service.
Jake Downward, 18, and Monash Berwick Union president Dani Rothwell have been instrumental in pushing for the Narre Warren facility to be set up, a push which increased after a community summit on youth suicide was held at the City of Casey chambers and covered by the ABC’s Four Corners in 2012.
Jake and Dani were joined by a host of local, State and Federal politicians who attended the official opening, including Holt MP Anthony Byrne and La Trobe MP Jason Wood.
After speaking to the crowd, Jake Downward spoke to the News about what it meant to him and the other Casey youths to finally have the Narre Warren centre up and running.
“I think it was after about a year of Dandenong running it we realised, OK, Dandenong isn’t reaching out to enough people, it’s not reaching out to the people from Pakenham and Beaconsfield because no-one wanted to travel,” he said.
“So myself, Dani Rothwell and a few others, we started pushing Anthony Byrne to get him on board with what we wanted and to work with our campaign and from there it got the ball rolling.”
Jake said it was integral for others to have another place they could go for help.
“It’s important for people to have another place to go and Headspace is so unique, it offers a different type of support,” he said.
“Their programs are based upon youth.”
The set-up of a Headspace facility at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre was confirmed last August following concerns aired by federal Labor that the Narre Warren rollout may be in jeopardy due to the Federal Government’s removal of Medicare Locals.
But to ensure the next round of Headspace centres were established within the original timeframes, Medicare Locals selected to operate new centres were able to do so under an interim agreement.
