Arlene - Brisbane Youth Service

I am a young Aboriginal, Gurang Gurang woman, who didn’t have the best upbringing which led to me living on the streets.

I couldn’t live with any other family as it was too over-crowded, and I needed my own space for me and my 3 children.

When living on the streets, the friends I made told me about BYS. I then accessed BYS supports for the pantry which is how I knew they might be able to help with housing.

Before BYS could help with finding me a home, my only option was to couch surf with my kids in the Gold Coast. My goal was to return to Brisbane and have my own house. I was adamant about achieving this and regularly reached out to BYS on the phone and I was offered a lot of support despite being out of the catchment area. This meant a lot, as other local services couldn’t offer the type of support that BYS did.

I was allocated an Immediate Housing Response for Families (IHR-F) worker who supported me from afar with access to services, emergency respite accommodation and continued to help me search for properties. BYS kept in contact with me regularly and it felt great to know there was always someone I could call.

In early 2023, my couch surfing option was no longer available, so BYS brought my family up to Brisbane and got us all emergency accommodation in a motel. This was our first taste of being in our own house as a family. My worker helped by putting in referrals for housing and in May 2023, we landed ourselves a house.

I just want to say I am very grateful to BYS; without them I wouldn’t be where I am now, and I wouldn’t be able to do the things I want to do. I finally can pursue my own dreams and goals and know that my family have a safe home.