Kergen, 22
on how the Y’s young people are spearheading
innovation in COVID-19
The Melbourne CBD had an anxious
busyness to it on the afternoon of
Thursday 19 March, which my memory
had been underlaid with the sound of
an upset beehive.
The words ‘COVID-19’ had whispered
into the media and accounts of people
having confirmed cases were staining
the newspapers. No lockdown had
been announced yet, but our collective
consciousness all knew something big
was coming.
I got the call that I and most of our
team in Youth and Disability Services
had been stood down as I was walking
my bike up Elizabeth Street from a
youth conference in the afternoon.
Life needed to change fast. My next
week was spent working out how to use
Zoom meetings, adapting to online
university classes and plotting out my
finances without work. I didn’t realise it at
the time, but in retrospect I was at
serious risk of mental, physical and moral
exhaustion adapting to the changes.
Fortunately, there were some brilliant
minds busy at work building a new
framework for social engagement at the
Y. Honestly, I don’t think I would be in a
strong enough position to keep getting
out of bed each day without them.
The online initiatives, which are hosted
in a private Facebook group with 800
young Y volunteers, were developed by
our dedicated Volunteer Development
team. Over the weeks, everything from
morning breakfast clubs to cooking
classes, makeup tutorials to Mario Kart
games, Auslan classes to resume
coaching, began to spring up online.
Our volunteer community, brought
together initially to support young
people, was leading the charge in
innovating ways to support each other.
What I saw was an innovation wave
that our volunteers weren’t just riding
but making.
Amidst all of this, confirmation that this
year’s YMCA Victoria Youth Parliament,
a program I run alongside 17 other
politically savvy young people, was
continuing. It became my role to not only
run this program but to innovate this
Kergen Angel at a YMCA youth event p
program in a way not seen in its 34-year
history. Oddly enough, when you get 18
young people with a range of interests
from engineering to international
relations with a joint passion for
empowerment, they make things work.
Together, we are in the middle of
redesigning our training program to be
delivered and facilitated online, totally
geared towards maximising
engagement. In blue-sky meetings,
everything from the postal service to
virtual backgrounds were considered
for hitting key program outcomes.
In the middle of all of this, I see the true
power of inspired and risk-taking young
people, not bound by money, come to
the aid of the community.
It’s my privilege to see the spearhead of
social change come to fruition at the Y,
and I know that I wouldn’t want to be
anywhere else right now.
I AM SEEING THE TRUE
POWER OF INSPIRED
YOUNG PEOPLE.
FEATURE ARTICLE WINTER 2020
YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE 15