“I eventually withdrew even more from my peers and relied more
on self-destructive behaviours to get through.” – Jessie
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Jessie’s journey
As an 8th grader, Jessie described herself as an anxious and isolated teenager who was unsure of the world and unsure of herself.
She was a perfectionist who constantly set impossibly high standards for herself that she couldn’t reach. Jessie was struggling to cope with everything going on in her life but found it difficult to trust others enough to reach out and talk about what was going on and how she was feeling.
Jessie joined the raise mentoring program after she started to withdraw from her peers and relied more on self-destructive behaviours to get through.
Unfortunately, this is not a unique occurrence with 1 in 10 young people turning to self-harm as a coping mechanism.

For Jessie at the time, just having an impartial adult show up and listen to her every week was so significant and helped Jessie learn how to trust again. Her mentor helped to navigate some difficulties at home and school, simply by listening.
Mentoring gave Jessie the skills she needed to reach out to others and seek support, as well as gain the self-confidence to seek ways to connect with and contribute to her community.
“Without a mentor, I may not have sought help for the issues I was facing at the time, which could have harmed my future.”
The power of showing up for a young person can truly set them on a better path.
By donating today, you can help more young people like Jessie build resilience and hope for their future.

To receive a receipt for donations via bank transfer, please email donations@raise.org.au with your contact details and quote the payment reference.
Support our young people
Young Australians need your support today! We are helping nearly 2,000 young people across our country this year and we urgently need your donation to support them. Every little bit helps in an organisation like ours.
It takes a village to raise a child
We have provided over 500,000 hours of mentoring since 2008, and provided mentors for more than 8,000 young people, so far. We have trained more than 6,000 volunteers from the community in our industry leading Raise Youth Mentor Training Course.