ELVIS MARTIN .
Elvis Martin is one of the passionate young leaders of Victoria advocating for social justice. He is currently the Ambassador of National Youth Commission Australia and RUOK? Day. His main focus is to support young people who are experiencing hardships in life. His areas of advocacy work include mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, suicide prevention and the LGBTIQ+ community. He uses his platform to promote inclusion, diversity and equality for all.
Elvis uses his personal life experiences to educate others in the community and influence decision-makers to create better policies. He has served the community and people in need for many years by supporting them and bringing them out of their hardships and by making them feel proud of who they are. After experiencing difficulty in life and overcoming many personal life hurdles, Elvis has made his purpose to support those who are going through similar experiences to what hw went through.
Many young people have described his journey as an inspiration to them, and they look up to his resilience and leadership. His style of advocacy has brought a real difference and raised the profile of youth at various platforms. He always advocates for people who cannot speak up for themselves. ( Student support team)
In a conversation with Elvis, “My mission is simple. I want to support those who are in need, and I want to help them achieve their goals and be proud of who they are. I believe every young person is brave enough to be successful, but sometimes life doesn’t give them a chance to reach their goals. I feel deeply disheartened when I see statistics on youth homelessness, young people experiencing domestic violence and majority of youth experiencing mental health issues. I wouldn’t just blame the system for this; I believe it is also due to lack of compassion and equality in society. I want people to be more compassionate and kind towards each other. How we can achieve this is by being non-judgmental, accepting differences and respecting others’ choices.
To those who experience hardships in life and believe they are worthless and can’t achieve anything, I want to say that just because there is an obstacle in your path, that doesn’t mean you will have to get off the road. You are strong and worthy of living a beautiful life; I acknowledge it’s hard now, but you will get there”.
Hear what others say about Elvis
I had the pleasure of working with Elvis creating awareness of the issues impacting young people experiencing homelessness. Elvis is a driven professional who possesses excellent communication skills and I wish him every success in all future endeavors.
Shelley Falzon
Events Manager at Melbourne City Mission