Lions has a long and prominent history of providing community service, particularly with projects where the community at large, or those in real need, benefit.

Lions Youth Outreach organise activities that make a difference in the lives of young people not only locally and nationally, but also internationally. Lions Quest programs are in use in 12,000 schools in Europe, Scandinavia, South Africa and Australia. World wide, more than 20 million young people have participated in the life skills programs.

Lions participate in forums to discuss problems facing young people, what support is available to them and their families in the local community and how inadequacies can best be addressed.

Leo Clubs and Youth Insearch are examples of programs regionally that have benefited significantly from Lions Club involvement.

The Lions Youth Emergency Accommodation Centre (Pine Rivers) Inc. (LYEAC) was incorporated to address specific accommodation issues facing young people in the Pine Rivers and Caboolture areas. Located in Samsonvale Road, Strathpine, the medium to long term facility was built specifically to provide up to 5 young people, experiencing placement difficulties within the states foster care system, with safe and secure accommodation and related support services.

Land was donated to LYEAC by a local community disability service and substantial donations in kind, money, labour and counsel followed over the next 8 years to make the vision a reality.

In June 1998 members of over 80 Queensland Lions Clubs and other community members took 4 days to erect the building. In the months following, members of Lions District 201Q3 continued to work on the property, furnishing and equipping the building, landscaping and fencing the property. This property is now known as Clyde House.

In 2003, LYEAC transferred the operational duties of Clyde House to the Integrated Family and Youth Service with the agency successfully being licensed to provide formalised, residential care to young people later that same year.

Since the completion of the property a number of young people have resided and benefited from the work being undertaken at Clyde House. Young people housed at the facility have often previously demonstrated significant emotional and behavioural issues with most seeing, as a result of their stay, considerable changes in their behaviour and personal circumstances.

EXITING FOSTER CARE:  A Queensland Perspective

Young people sometimes have to leave their placement foster home regardless of how long they have been living there and regardless of their readiness and personal maturity to cope with independent living. 

In the absence of appropriate transitional housing and financial support, young people who leave care will frequently either exit into services designed for homeless young people, rely on the goodwill of friends or relatives or at worst, transition into boarding houses, bed and breakfast hostels, the streets and night shelters.

Tragically, researchers have found that young people who exit the care of the Department of Child Safety are over represented in the following statistics:

• Poverty
• Crime
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Domestic violence and abuse
• Prostitution
• Psychiatric disability
• Homelessness

LYEAC identified the need to develop a further development for these young people to live in short to medium term transitional accommodation, with additional support through personal case management.

LIONS LIFE SKILLS CENTRE DEVELOPMENT

LYEAC purchased a vacant block of land in Lawnton on 23rd June 2007 and on 4th September transported a re-locatable house (donated by Pine Rivers Shire Council) onto the land.

An agreement was made between LYEAC and The Construction Training Centre for support through "Community Jobs Plan Work Placements" with in-kind funding from Department of Employment & Industrial Relations, Department of Employment & Workplace Relations, and Building & construction Industry Training Fund (BCITF) - Industry. A program of 20 weeks where 12 long-term unemployed indigenous participants worked on creating the Lions Life Skills Centre.

Lions Life Skills Centre complex completed:

Unit 1

"LYEAC House" - 2 Storey - upstairs level accommodation for House Parents and short term emergency accommodation, and downstairs the Life Skills Training Centre, toilet, disability toilet and shower, plus training kitchen

Unit 2 & 3

Duplex consisting of 2 units, each with one bedroom, lounge, kitchen, laundry, shower & toilet

Unit 4 & 5

Duplex consisting of 2 units, each with one bedroom, lounge, kitchen, laundry, shower & toilet

Unit 6 & 7

Two storey townhouse consisting of 2 units, each with two bedrooms, shower and toilet upstairs, with lounge, kitchen and laundry downstairs.

Lions Life Skills Centre was officially opened on 21 May 2008 by Past International President Lion Frank Moore III and Senator Claire Moore.

In April 2010 a Service Agreement was signed between LYEAC & Kidz Youth Communities (KYC) for the management of Lions Life Skills Centre, Lawnton.