The Pathways Foundation, a fully registered charity dealing with issues of harm prevention is dedicated to assisting helping young people to be able to make that fundamental and very emotional move from being a small child into being a young adult. The way Pathways Foundation does this is through providing Rites of Passage that are contemporary and community based for the boys between ages 13 and 15 (Pathways to Manhood) and for those girls who are between 12-15 years (Pathways into Womanhood).
In the traditional societies whereby the entire village or community helped in bringing up the children, more energy and time were invested into the communal Rite of Passage that marked the important transition from childhood into young adulthood than in any of the other social events making up the rich village life fabric. The entire village very much understood that their very continued existence largely depended on having in the community very healthy men and women as members of the community rather than having overgrown “yo” boys plus girls.
In the world of today it is quite rare to find that the whole village is assisting in bringing up the children, hence it is more vital than ever before that our girls and boys get assisted during their first steps into young adulthood. We all appreciate that this work of assisting them grow makes a huge difference.
Market research conducted independently on the participants of Pathways to Manhood has established some of the following noteworthy advantages for the younger men:
- Increased self confidence
- Stronger and more supportive and respectful father-son relationships
- Enhanced respect for women
- Motivation towards setting goals, finishing school and in participating more and giving back more to their own community.
Pathways Foundation Aims & Objectives
The goal of the Pathways Foundation is twofold:
- To assist boys into young men while the girls get assisted into young women.
- To inspire both the boys and the girls to get a vision and attain their maximum potential.
The Pathways programs got positive outcomes including:
- Boosted self esteem
- Enhanced leadership & communication skills
- Reduced harmful behaviour like alcohol and drug abuse
- Decreased rates of youth suicide
- Improved school results
- More stable and healthier and families
- Enhanced peer relationships
The History of Pathways Foundation
The Pathways Foundation got incorporated in December 2002 as a non-profit public company and in the year 2003, the Pathways Foundation Limited got fully registered as a charity dealing with harm prevention having gift deductibility status with the government. However, the earliest building blocks were set in place much earlier by some committed men who were concerned and interested about the wellbeing and health of Australian boys and young men.
The Pathways Foundation seed was planted at the ANZMLG (Australian and New Zealand Men’s Leadership Gathering) in 1995. From this pioneering gathering a proposal went out to further kick off and develop independent boys and girls programs across Australia. This initiative coming from the 1995 ANZMLG was in 1996 given the name the “Pathways to Manhood” project.
The Pathways Foundation got incorporated in December 2002. Also a voluntary trustees group was formed for monitoring and maintaining the work and making sure that the original aims and values were upheld especially during the formative Foundation years.
The history of the Foundation would be incomplete without having acknowledging the significant contribution made by the many dedicated and strong women who have worked tirelessly towards developing and refining the mother’s role.
Pathways Foundation Programs
Besides the Pathways to Manhood award winning program, the Foundation is now offering a choice of other programs that include:
- Pathways into Womanhood
- Leadership Training for men
- Leadership Training for women
- Community and schools Talks
- YoungStars
- Returning Young Woman
- Returning Young Man
Getting more Involved
In case you have been touched or inspired by what Pathways Foundation is doing, there are several ways through which at you get more involved:
- In case you have gone through or have been on one of the programs, to share your feelings concerning your experience would be an excellent a way of keeping the experience always alive for yourself and at the same time inspire others on the possibilities which they too could get into.
- Passing on newsletters or emails to your personal network.
- Joining the training into becoming a Pathways Leader as the Foundation need worthy women and men leaders for helping run the programs.
- Becoming a volunteer in any of the 8 regions across Australia.
- Making a donation that is also tax deductible to the Foundation.
Pathways Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization registered as a Gift Deductible Recipient meaning that donations become tax deductible.
Pathways aims at building relationships with private individuals, donor companies, philanthropic organizations as well as others that are in a position of financially assisting Pathways.
Pathways Foundation is always in need of more funds to expand and grow and your kind donations really assist towards achieving this.
