Mandurah woman wins Most Outstanding Youth Worker

MANDURAH’S Jessica Vati is 2018’s Most Outstanding Youth Worker, winning the accolade at the WA Youth Awards in Perth.

Vati has worked with the Street Net Youth Service in Mandurah for nine years and worked in the youth sector for almost 20 years.

For much of her time at Street Net, she has been the sole youth worker and worked tirelessly to develop and deliver programs for young people in the region.

She was instrumental in bringing the Nighthoops Basketball program to Mandurah and Pinjarra when no other agency could.

She is also passionate about supporting indigenous culture and has been actively involved in getting camps for indigenous young people in care reinstated.

Vati consistently delivers outcomes for young people and often forfeits her own work time to help young people who need a hand, including transporting a young person to Perth for a court hearing and to advocate on their behalf when they had no family members able to provide support.

She is described as the most professional, hardworking youth worker in the sector in the Peel region.

The WA Youth Awards, a partnership between the Department of Communities and the Youth Affairs Council of WA, celebrate the achievements of young Western Australians and groups that support WA youth and were established in 1999.