Fotina | Brisbane Youth Service

With support from a Young Families worker, Fotina overcame parenting challenges and found renewed belief in herself and an inspired direction for the future of her young family.

I was referred to BYS around 2017 at a time in my life when I felt very vulnerable and alone. Life and parenting was overwhelming and I needed support to cope and map out a new future for myself and my young son.

I was given a God-sent Families Worker, who really understood me and my journey.

Things started to make sense as a parent, I started to understand my son better, learning about his needs, communication, and development. The pressure I was placing on him started to ease. I had been treating him as a young man, rather than the young child he was.

I have learnt so much in this journey with BYS as an individual, as a parent and as a career driven individual and the balance needed. I learnt different coping skills, love languages, emotional needs, and communication cues from my son.

When my son started Prep, he struggled with the transition and was finding it difficult to settle in. I thought that I had failed as a parent, I was busy, working and studying my bachelors and being a single parent. But Renee was there to assure me that it was okay and with the right supports he would get through, all children are different and with the right fit and support he would be ok.

This helped me accept the new phase of our life and adjustments were made. Through research on different types of schools and supports with my worker, my son started a new school which was a better fit for him.

I will forever be grateful for BYS and especially to Renee who I know I could rely on when I got stuck in life.

I have learnt that no-matter what state of life you are at there is always going to be help for you, when you need it and there is going to be someone who believes in you, even when you do not believe in yourself and that’s what BYS showed me and that’s what Renee taught me.

Now my son is doing well at school with friends and amazing feedback from teachers. I am about to start my Master in Human services. My lifetime goal is to start an organisation that will help parents and families who face the same or greater challenges in parenting hood as I have.

The key to this message is to trust your journey and everything that we go through is to shape us and prepare us for the greater good.