A Brave Life
A Brave Life runs peer mentoring programs for young and teenage mothers, the majority of whom are from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Their Live Life Brave program supports these mothers to complete their higher education; empowering them to navigate the challenges associated with being a teenage parent, so they can be a financially independent, positive role model for their child. Funding will enable them to invest in the Live Life Brave program to positively impact the lives of more young mums in the Brisbane area, plus contribute to their Baby Bundle program, which provides free essential baby items.
2018 Pitch
Funds Raised: $35,800
Melissa knows first-hand the unique challenges of being a young mum. During her pitch at TFN Brisbane, she spoke of the stigma and shame that is still associated with it and the impact this has on these young women. Melissa was pitching for funding so A Brave Life can reach more of these young mothers and provide mentoring programs and baby goods in their 'baby bundle program'.
The impact…
Young and teenage mothers are at a higher risk of ongoing poverty, misfortune and helplessness. With the stigma and shame surrounding them, many of them drop out of school and isolate - leading to unemployment, and hardships that will be inherited by their baby. A Brave Life supports these young and teenage mothers to complete their education and pursue their dreams. Melissa Redsell was raising money at TFN Live Brisbane to fund their Live Life Brave program - a peer mentoring program.
Since the pitch, they have been able to provide 2 mentors to attend a local high school supporting 10 teenage mothers there. So far, all the year 12 students graduated from high school with the remainder still on track. They’ve also delivered 350 baby bundles and supported a young mother to get her drivers licence. One of their beneficiaries is Hope, who we meet below..
“We first met Hope when she was 16 years old and she had just found out that she was pregnant with her daughter. Hope completed year 11 whilst pregnant and came back to school last year to complete year 12 . Hope had very limited family support, so our team at A Brave Life was able to provide Hope with weekly peer support and mentoring.
Through this support Hope was able to maintain regular attendance at school, receive additional help with her school work and it also gave her the confidence to graduate from high school as a teenage mother and to continue to purse her dreams and goals after finishing school.
In March this year Hope was one of our guest speakers at our annual fundraiser and it was such a proud moment for our whole team to watch her stand in front of room full of people and share about her journey and the support that she received from the mentors at A Brave Life” - Melissa Redsell, Founding Director
Read their Impact Report