This year marks 40 years since local youth service, Veritas House first opened its doors in the Central West. Forty years on, the agency’s commitment to caring for the region’s most vulnerable continues, providing accommodation and support services to more than 800 vulnerable children, young people, and their families across the Central West each year.

To celebrate the impact dedicated Veritas House staff have made throughout this time, a commemorative tree was planted that will live alongside residents at the Veritas House Youth Refuge in Orange.

Jody Pearce, Veritas House CEO, felt the nostalgia as she walked throughout the refuge, she remembers and spotted the signing of her name alongside the shed wall back in 2009, which turned out to be their major fundraising initiative.

“I was 26, working in Lucknow where the Orange and District Youth Refuge,” said Jody. “It was similar in operation in what we do today, in terms of 24/7 youth refuge.

“It’s pretty special, what we do. It’s a privilege to work with the young people we do, it’s a privilege to see their courage and their resilience to come through adversity. It’s a privilege to work within a team that’s really committed to youth homelessness and child protection.

“I also think it’s amazing to see kids come in, in crisis, but they move through that crisis into reaching their full potential whether it be going back to school, returning to their families, becoming meaningful members of their community.

Jody expressed the necessity to keep services like Veritas local, and based within the community.

“Veritas is an enduring service that is a safety net for kids that fall through the cracks, we need to be there when this happens. I think our values around compassion are very important, we care about children and young people and how marginalised they are. We also have a huge commitment to supporting homeless youth to get back on track, but also supporting their families.

“We are local, we are responsive, we are anchored in our communities and we love what we do.”

The tree will serve as a reminder of the agency’s foundational roots in the local community in which it operates and its ongoing commitment to providing shelter for generations to come.