Cairns man dedicates his life savings to helping local kids thrive

In short:

Cairns man Rob Hodge invested his own money and passion into creating a program to help at-risk youth.

Fresh Start Academy trains young people in mechanics and barbering to set them on a better path for the future.

What's next?

After securing trial funding, Mr Hodge hopes to secure long-term support following a successful first semester of mechanics.

After almost three decades working with at-risk young people through government departments, Rob Hodge found there were limits when working to change things.

He said it felt like there was a philosophy that young people came with risks, and those needed to be contained.

"It was really tough to be able to provide young people opportunities,"he said.

In the Cairns community, he said it was hard convincing people to care.

So, Mr Hodge left his "fairly comfortable government job" and took his own risk, building a program with his own hands, money and family.

He founded Fresh Start Academy, which works with young people, including those considered "at-risk" by the youth justice department.

"My life savings has gone into this," he said.

Participants learn practical trade skills on the job, with the group offering a barbering course initially and now adding mechanics, and 24 young people attending each semester.

"If we get them early and if we provide a learning space for them that invigorates them, that's the real truth to sustainable diversion," Mr Hodge said.

The program has now received $300,000 in funding until January next year through the state government's Kickstarter program.

Half of Mr Hodge's students are kids aged 15-to-17-year-old who are "disengaged" with school or considered at risk of entering the justice system.

Purpose and pride

The latest Queensland Crime Report, released in June, found Far North Queensland had the highest number of serious repeat youth offenders.

They are young people who authorities say often influence other kids to offend.

However, Mr Hodge said his experience taught him while punishment had a place, purpose and pride created lasting change.

"We have young people who have been kicked from pillar to post from the time that they were born," he said.

"They've grown up knowing that they're the have-nots."

In an earlier barbering program, Mr Hodge watched teens change how they viewed themselves after seeing smiles on customers' faces.

"If they don't have physical gifts that can change their position, then it's only temporary," he said.

Inside the workshop

Fresh Start Academy program coordinator, and Mr Hodge's son, Traye, said the program was a "win-win" for community members who donated their cars to get fixed.

"It's a full free service by our fully qualified mechanic here, and our young people are getting a chance to really learn hands-on," he said.

The teenagers attend the program twice a week, obtaining a certificate in Automotive Vocational Preparation, while working directly with cars.

The program also uses the interactions to encourage school-aged students to engage with other forms of education.

Since the first semester, four young people have gone on to apprenticeships, and another four are continuing their studies at TAFE.

Some young people, including 16-year-old Robert Cutmore, join the program, not because they are "at risk" or involved with the justice system, but so they can try learning away from a classroom.

Robert said school "just wasn't really working", and said he struggled to sit still and absorb information from the board.

"It's more of a one-on-one thing for me, hands-on work like here at Fresh Start," he said.

Since starting the program, Robert's mentors said he had become one of their best students.

He has now applied for apprenticeships and said he has found a future in mechanics.

Immeasurable benefits

Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes said programs like Mr Hodge's were "exactly what we should be supporting" to address juvenile crime.

She said grassroots, early intervention programs built skills like turning up, accountability and confidence, which were harder to measure but just as important.

"We're dealing with complex human beings here and it's not a conveyor belt of change," she said.

However, stigma remained a major barrier because young offenders were acutely aware of how they were perceived.

"I think it helps contribute to a sort of nihilism in their way of thinking that 'well, I've got nothing to lose'," Ms Hayes said.

She said most young people in the system were not violent offenders, and many had a chance of "coming out better" with support.