Jessica Brown Life Changing Experiences Foundation Interview

Jessica Brown Life Changing Experiences Foundation Interview

Jessica founded Life Changing Experiences Foundation in 2003 and since then has fought tirelessly to help hundreds of teenage girls battling parental loss, domestic violence, sexual abuse, depression and self-harm. A non-government funded charity, LCEF's main initiative is the SISTER2sister 12 month mentoring program. Through the program, each girl is matched with a mentor to guide and support them to make positive changes in their lives. To date, Jessica and the charity have helped over 275 girls to break these cycles and achieve a better quality of life and brighter future for themselves.

Through this challenging yet rewarding journey, Jessica has sacrificed incredibly for the cause, both financially and personally, but always with a smile on her face. She is now 41 years of age and has quite simply not had the time to find her life partner and start her own family, despite wanting to do so desperately.

In the thick of helping young girls under tragic circumstances, in 2010 Jessica was faced with a family tragedy of her own when her brother was brutally stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The stress of her brother's murder, supporting her two grieving parents, and her job affected Jessica's health immensely. As a result, Jessica was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which dramatically affected her ability to function normally.

Despite her personal loss, Jessica is more passionate than ever about bringing positivity into the lives of young girls, who otherwise would have no one to guide them. Jessica is now back on the road to recovery health wise and continues to dedicate her life and energy to the SISTER2sister program, and finding her Mr. Right.

Jessica was a 2011 NSW finalist for the prestigious Australian of the Year Awards and was the NSW face for the Commonwealth Bank's 2011 Launching Local Heroes program. She has just been announced as a finalist in the NSW Woman of the Year People's Choice award.

Interview with Jessica Brown

Question: Can you tell us about Life Changing Experiences Foundation?

Jessica Brown: The Mission of Life Changing Experiences Foundation is to support and nurture our underprivileged and disadvantaged youth by breaking the cycle of suffering and experience as a result of abuse, neglect and various trauma and reversing the detrimental effects of low self-esteem by teaching them vital tools to create the future of their dreams.

We aim to help them reach their fullest potential by supporting them while they overcome their past, inspiring them to create a fulfilling present, giving them opportunities to change the direction of their future and achieving community 'wellness' through the social inclusion of these young people now capable of being active and positively contributing members of our community.


Question: What inspired you to begin the Life Changing Experiences Foundation?

Jessica Brown: I started my career as a high school teacher and saw a gap between the kids who were excelling at school and those who were struggling and misbehaving in class. I don't believe in bad kids, only good kids with bad behavior. Most of the time it was due to something going on at home and often included abuse and neglect or the lack of a stable positive role model. I started LCEF so that I could raise the necessary funds for a program called the SISTER2sister program which I created to support vulnerable teenage girls make positive choices for a better future.


Question: What is the SISTER2sister 12 month mentoring program?

Jessica Brown: The SISTER2sister Program targets disadvantaged and underprivileged teenage girls (12-18) who are considered to be "at risk" and disengaged from the community due to circumstances beyond their control for example as a direct result of trauma, parents in jail and/or with an addiction or mental illness, bereavement, poverty, abuse, neglect, homelessness, family breakdown, mental illness etc. Also addressed is a lack of a positive role model in the girls' lives, the inability to envisage a life outside their present circumstances and the lack of motivation or inspiration that would enable the girls to learn new skills, overcome obstacles and break the cycle.

Participants in the program include girls from all nationalities, religions and socioeconomic groups including newly arrived migrants, refugees, Indigenous and girls who are culturally isolated.

The SISTER2sister Program is a unique 12 month mentoring and risk management program run each year by LCEF designed to empower vulnerable teenage girls to turn their lives around and to have a positive lasting impact on the girls and on the wider community.

The aim of the SISTER2sister Program is to break the generational cycle of suffering by helping at risk teenage girls to make better choices for a positive future and to equip them with skills for mastering life's challenges.

Each of the girls in the program is assigned a Big Sister mentor as a positive female role model to provide support, guidance and advice throughout the program.

After selection of the Big and Little Sister program participants, Big Sister mentors attending a comprehensive 2 day training course which equips them with the requisite skills and information to ensure that they can handle the various issues which may arise. The Big Sister mentors are also informed of their legal obligations regarding the health and wellbeing of the girls and provided with information on the additional avenues of support that may be necessary and appropriate in certain circumstances.

Big Sisters and Little Sisters are then matched by a committee made up of past Big Sisters, Team Leaders and psychologists. Factors taken into consideration include personality, location, hobbies and age.

The formal Program commences in April each year with a four day Butterfly Bootcamp, where the Little Sisters meet their Big Sister mentors and together attend various risk management seminars to learn the necessary skills for survival and coping in difficult circumstances together with team building workshops to challenge the girls and encourage them to work together towards goals.

The Program continues from April to November with monthly risk management workshops, "life changing experiences" to provide rewarding and unforgettable experiences and to boost the girls' confidence and self-esteem and valuable one on one time with their Big Sister.

Topics covered at the Bootcamp and monthly workshops include self-defence, keeping out of harm's way, dealing with depression, body image / eating disorders, self-harm, grief and loss, healthy body healthy mind, cooking healthy meals on a tight budget, fitness, anger management, resilience, goal setting, job interview skills and resume writing, goal setting, tapping potential and much more.


Question: Can you provide one of the many success stories of the SISTER2sister 12 month mentoring program?

Jessica Brown: Molly's beginning:
Molly was born in Africa and lived with her mother and father. Her parents split up when she was very young and her father moved to Australia with his new wife.

Tragically mother died of an illness when she was eight years old and Molly has little memory of her. She then moved to Australia when she was 11 to live with her father and step mother to escape the rebels and war.
On arriving in Australia Molly fell ill and was diagnosed with a rare and extremely dangerous condition called Takayasu-s Arthritis which causes her Aorta to swell. Molly relies on medication to keep her alive. She has been in and out of remission since her diagnosis.

Molly spent much time in hospital with her condition. Extremely ill she felt very alone…often relying on the affection and attention given by nurses. Eventually she put into foster care.

Molly was nominated for the SISTER2sister Program by her DoCs case worker.

Kylee's story
Jessica Brown met Kylee on a boat in Halong Bay in Vietnam and got talking to her about SISTER2sister. She was on a travelling holiday and was really interested in being a Big Sister on her return. I was thrilled to see her turn up at our annual information night. Kylee was extremely patient and caring and Jessica knew that she would be a perfect match for Molly.

Molly and Kylee
Kylee and Molly hit it off right away. Kylee went far beyond the call of duty of the Big Sister mentor role and was there every step of the way supporting Molly through her ill health and her problems. Kylee's family immediately welcomed Molly as part of the family and also assisted Kylee with looking after Molly which included many hospital visits.

Kylee never gave up on Molly and although the SISTER2sister program had come to it's completion, their bond became even stronger. They are like true sisters. Each year Molly is invited to Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Birthdays and family get togethers. Molly recently turned 21 and Kylee and her family took her away to the Gold Coast to celebrate. Molly is currently in remission and thrilled to finally have a family she can call her own.

With the support of Kylee and the SISTER2sister program, Molly now has a job in aged care and has completed her Certificate 3 in Nursing as an assistant nurse. Due to Molly spending so much time in hospital, she plans to continue studying in the field of nursing so that she can become a fully fledged nurse and help others through their illnesses.


Question: How do you go about finding mentors for the SISTER2sister 12 month mentoring program?

Jessica Brown: We have a wonderful PR company called Agent 99PR who help us to raise a profile and let the public know when applications are open each year and word of mouth is pretty powerful too. We always have a surplus of Big Sisters so we have many other volunteer opportunities for people to get involves such as fundraising or supporting our fundraising events.


Question: You've experienced many difficulties; how have these changed the way you approach life?

Jessica Brown: Running a charity in uncertain financial times has been very difficult but I've managed to keep the charity afloat for 10 years so I guess you could say determination is my middle name. I believe anything is possible and try to see obstacles as merely things you need to jump over.

Question: Looking back, would you change a single thing?

Jessica Brown: Of course. If I knew what I know now 10 years ago I would probably not had such a bumpy road to success, however all of the learning lessons along the way were due to my mistakes so I try not to beat myself up too much.


Question: How does it feel to be referred to as an Inspiring Women of Australia?

Jessica Brown: It's great to be recognised for my work but I don't do it for the accolades. I'm just an ordinary gal... doing extraordinary things.


Question: What's next for you, over the coming year?

Jessica Brown: We have a very exciting national fundraising campaign which is launching later in the year which involves women all around Australia wearing their most statement shoes to work to raise money for the SISTER2sister program. The campaign is about stepping up for SISTERHOOD and stomping out abuse and neglect in Australia.


Question: How can Australians volunteer or donate to the Life Changing Experiences Foundation?

Jessica Brown: www.lifechangingexperiences.org/site/LCE/donations.php


Interview by Brooke Hunter