Our Mission
To actively pursue opportunities that create change, develop awareness and strengthen the human spirit.
In 1980, in response to a growing need for a youth shelter on the Sunshine Coast, the Maroochydore Area Youth Services (MAYS) was founded. Operating from a small, converted house in Beach Road, Maroochydore, the fledging staff of one Co-ordinator and two Youth Workers managed a small, 4 bed emergency shelter that provided accommodation and youth related information and support to homeless, young people aged between 15-25 years.
Constantly morphing and evolving over the ensuing years, the organisation recognised that its future lay in being able to provide a far broader range of services to its community than those provided in its original charter. Within this context the organisation re-evaluated its mission and goals, pragmatically embracing a broader mission statement more inclusive of families and those experiencing disabilities.
In 2002, to better reflect this broader mission statement, the organisation changed its name to that which it has today - Integrated Family and Youth Service (IFYS). Integrated Family and Youth Service (IFYS) has now been servicing south-east, central and northern Queensland communities for over 30 plus years and during this time has instigated the development of a wide range of responses to the needs of children, young people and families.
At our heart IFYS still delivers accommodation services to homeless and impoverished young people but, in addition to such, also provides counselling and mediation services; disability support, health, employment, education, family and parenting programs; foster care and flexible learning options. With services now stretching from the Gold Coast to the far north of the state. IFYS employs over 900 permanent and casual staff and is one of Queensland’s largest non-church providers of beds to people, with over 1000 beds available throughout the state every night.
Over the past four decades IFYS has gained a strong reputation as a provider of choice by delivering a wide range of programs across multiple regional areas to meet the needs of children, young people, and families. Our service delivery stretches from Sunshine Coast, where our organisation has its largest presence, to regional services in Cairns, Mackay, Rockhampton, Hervey Bay, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast.
IFYS is governed by a skilled and dedicated Board of Directors, which meets regularly, providing rigour scrutiny and strategic direction. An experienced Executive Leadership Team with over 80 years of combined experience and Program Managers with the essential focus for helping and maintaining marginalised individuals who have a need for services through the day-to-day provision of services. In terms of organisational efficiencies, IFYS operates a shared services model with central business functions housed in the Maroochydore Corporate Office. This delivers centralised practice development, quality assurance, human resources, recruitment, finance, governance, marketing and other business functions, which are essential support elements to all our care services. This centralised model is a key example of IFYS’ strength in size while maintaining person - centric service delivery to children, young people and families.