KY Joins as the New Perth YCW YEO

G’day! My name is Ky! I’m the new Perth YEO.

I’m passionate about a permaculture gardening, skating, and sinking a few homebrews and am always chasing someone to kick the footy with.. But like you, I’m fired up when dealing with issues of Justice and Fairness. Like you, I’ve been in precarious work, or precarious housing – unsure about choosing to continue to study or find work. To accept my rent increase, or tell my landlord to shove it.

I’ve worked as a chippy in a factory building doors and windows, worked as a disability support worker, poured beers, made coffees, ran tables. I’ve built sheds, reno’d houses and spent a great deal of time in the regions. I’ve washed golf carts, worked in an industrial laundry, been a double major Uni drop out, and couldn’t afford a horticulture course at TAFE – to do the study, to get the certificate, to find a job with. A catch-22 that all young people are familiar with today.

I worked as a union organiser where I had the privledge and hardship of organising some of Australia’s lowest paid, and least respected workers.

I’ve lived with people seeking asylum in a housing project, working towards and waiting for an opportunity when they may get a go.

I worked for WA’s largest street based feeding project – Manna Inc. providing food to Perth’s most vulnerable street present and food insecure citizens. I ran school breakfast programs across 21 low SEA schools and made sure children had a nutritious food in front of them, so they could focus on learning.

But I’ve also trained activists, painted billboards, shaken the tin, collected signatures, written to stakeholders, trained activists, briefed academics. I’ve walked out, sat in, stood up, spoken against and been locked up twice for it.

I have a beautiful mother who did double the duty, and a father that struggles with a number of health issues.

A sister who became a nurse, and a brother who’s still unsure about his career prospects.

I’m deeply passionate about education. Because education is empowering and emancipating. For two years I ran a community development project making education free and accessible to people – utilising vacant carparks at night to teach courses ranging from – how to perform your own car maintenance, to responding to misogyny and sexual harassment. You can find a TEDx talk I did in 2015 by searching ‘Carpark Classroom’.

I’ll be hanging out with crew across WA, and encourage people to reach out and offer whatever advice and guidance they may have, or ask for any help that they may need. Because I can’t do this all in my own strength, and humbly rely on the wealth of time and experience of the broader YCW community.

Yours in brotherhood, faith, and solidarity,

Ky