At zero2hero, we’re lucky to meet some seriously inspiring young people — and 15-year-old Rineta is definitely one of them.
We first met Rineta in Broome in 2024, while we were on the road delivering our Hero High workshops. From there, she was selected as one of nine students from the Kimberley to attend Camp Hero LEADERSHIP, flying all the way to Perth as part of our Telethon-funded initiative to support youth mental health in regional WA.
But what happened next is what really makes Rineta stand out.
After completing Camp Hero, Rineta returned to volunteer at the very next camp, saying she wanted to “give back to the experience that gave her so much.” Talk about stepping up!
As someone from Broome living at the residential college, my opportunities to learn more of myself and leadership are rare. The lesson I learnt from my experience at Camp Hero was no matter how hard and rocky the journey is ahead, if you are able to switch your mindset in just one positive direction, you are able to achieve so many more great things in life, and that your only real challenge you will face in life is yourself.
This is what we’re all about. Not just giving young people tools to manage their mental health, but inspiring them to lead, support their peers, and spark change in their own communities.
Then came the big move that created even bigger impact.
Later in 2024, Rineta’s family relocated from Broome to Katanning – a major change during a pretty pivotal time. But instead of seeing the move as a setback, Rineta saw it as a chance to use everything she’d learned.
Before long, she was elected Head Girl of her new school.
And then came the full-circle moment. Rineta reached out to the zero2hero team to see if we could bring our programs to Katanning SHS. With her help, we ran mental health workshops for every year group from Year 7 through to Year 12.
That’s what we call a ripple effect — and Rineta made it happen!
Rineta is one of many students we’ve connected with through our continued partnership with Telethon. Thanks to their support, in 2025 so far we’ve:
- Delivered 53 school workshops across 14 schools
- Educated 1,750 young people
- Graduated 22 student leaders through Camp Hero YOUTH and LEADERSHIP
- Rolled out 8 different mental health programs across the Kimberley and South West
Now, we’re proud to be re-engaging students from our original 2024 programs, helping them go from first-time participants to local champions for mental health.
We’re so grateful to Telethon for backing this work and helping us build young mental health leaders, just like Rineta.
