Philip Beresford’s beginnings at YFS are as organic as they come. With 30 years of executive experience and a fundamental desire to help those in his community, Philip arrived at YFS’ door in late 2021 eager to contribute his experience on the Board of Directors.
Already familiar with Substation33’s e-waste recycling project, Philip was enticed by both YFS’ caring legacy and the organisation’s innovative social enterprise.
“I had originally made contact with Substation33 just by donating some electronic goods there for the e-waste recycling and was very impressed with the organisation.”
“In subsequent months, I saw an advertisement for [a board position with] YFS…I saw that their values were well aligned with my own so I decided to apply.”
As Philip acclimated to his new role on the Board, he was struck by the far-reaching and lasting impression that YFS had made on the Logan community.
“I found so many people knew about YFS and were able to tell me what a good organisation they were. The impact [of YFS] has been quite broad… reaching into areas that I wasn’t expecting.”
For Philip, YFS is “the embodiment of our society’s moral architecture.” Every staff member is committed, through YFS’ services, to the safety and dignity of their neighbours. This mission is paramount in the Board’s direction and resonates with a lifelong project of Philip’s: to help one’s community.
“When I was growing up in small country towns, my parents would be continually contributing to the various organisations there. They instilled in me the value of giving back to the community.”
Unique to YFS’ approach, says Philip, is its commitment to understanding its impact and acknowledging areas for improvement. As reflected in the organisation’s values, while optimism and steadfastness are essential to servicing one’s community, courage and integrity are necessary to evaluate and learn from the impact of these services. In fact, being open to critical reflection is why YFS has been a constant in Logan for 40 years.
“The impact analysis that’s done at YFS gives me the confidence that there’s repeated change going on, giving help and hope to everybody.”
It also takes courage to understand and act on the needs of the community in the absence of adequate funding; Philip notes that YFS’ moral obligations have, in many cases, taken precedence over financial uncertainties: an unparalleled approach in the non-profit sector and one that is a credit to the values of YFS’s directors.
“When I look at the effort that was put into setting up Substation 33; it was a new entity. It needed to be supported by the organisation; it didn’t have public funding coming from the government, but they persevered and got an incredibly good result for so many people.”
“[Substation 33] has been running for eleven years and still continues to amaze people with the good that it does both for our environment, from a recycling point of view, but also for the amount of job opportunities and the careers it creates for people that just would never would have had them otherwise.”
While YFS continues to exhibit its commitment to innovation and support at a strategic level, so too do its staff, who work tirelessly to help the people of Logan thrive.
“One of the things that impresses me most about YFS is the staff. They are subjected to seeing the adversity that people are going through and they are experiencing their own trauma. The fact that they can keep striving with their work and do it with this level of optimism…that is just amazing in this sort of environment.”
