Helping former prisoners gain full-time jobs!
Nathan Martin was sitting in his jail cell at Long Bay prison when the idea first came to him.
He was in his 20s, serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, and already missed four birthdays and Christmases with his children.
He knew things needed to change.
"I just hit my hands on the bed, and I thought this is not what I want to do, not where I want to be, so what am I going to do to change it – and I actually came up with the idea of Yalagan then," Mr Martin said.
Yalagan, a Yuin word for hard working or smart fellow, began as a training and labour hire company to help people like Mr Martin get back on their feet and into long-term employment.
Jail is 'no place for us'
At the heart of his vision is to help First Nations people coming out of prison into full-time work.
"I just want to get into the prisons, train these fullas while they're in jail, get them out, get them a start — that's a real big thing for me," Mr Martin said.
"When you get out from doing whether it's a year, five years, 10 years, six months, you've got no money in your pocket.
"I've done it, you know, and I know how hard it is. And I know how easy it is for people to go back."
Yalagan is aiming to get 50 Indigenous prisoners — about to be released — trained and into full-time work with tier one companies across the industry.
Waste management company, Bingo Industries, is among the major collaborators to take on the first cohort this month.
"When they finish their sentence, they will have money in their pocket, they'll have their training completed, and rather than sort of just been thrown out and having to sort of work all this stuff out themselves, they'll be ahead of the game," Corporate Affairs Manager, Yeena Kirkbright said.
Mr Martin said it would be a fresh start for the former prisoners and "if they complete the program with no hiccups," they will have a full-time job.
"If I can make one blackfulla not go to jail for me it's all worth it, that's how simple it is— because it's no place for us."
Full Article: Indigenous recruitment and labour hire company helping former prisoners get full-time jobs