How Sallies got Antonia back on track

A Salvation Army Education and Employment course gave Antonia Leota a second chance after a traumatic event forced her to drop out of school in Year 11.

Leota, now 18, spoke at the launch of the army’s report on youth unemployment yesterday to illustrate the kinds of problems that many of the 74,000 unemployed young Kiwis had to overcome before they were ready to work.

Leota said school had become “too much” and she did not have the best relationship with her mum.

“Through that time I was disappointed and ashamed of myself, and I had no self-belief,” she said.

A family friend introduced her to an Education and Employment course in West Auckland in 2014, and through it she joined a year-long youth development course called Aspire, which was started last year by the Salvation Army with funding from The Warehouse.

Both courses provided counselling and tuition which helped her to gain NCEA level 2 in business administration and employment skills. Then her tutor helped her look for a job.

“I applied for so many jobs in different areas, because at the time I didn’t really mind what sort of work it will be. I just needed a job,” she said.

She finally got a job at a bakery last month, but she will have to leave it at the end of next week because she is moving to Mt Wellington.

Meanwhile, she has applied for a scholarship, also supported by the Salvation Army and The Warehouse, to study social work.

“When I was at school I wanted to be a police officer,” she said. “I think because I just came out of school and my mind changed to a different work that I wanted to do . . . I want to work alongside people and support them.”

— Simon Collins