Mary was referred to Indigo Junction’s Housing Support Program from a nearby Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre. She was attending rehabilitation for treatment for amphetamine use. Mary has a young son who was being cared for by his paternal grandmother while Mary was undergoing treatment. Mary is from a Spanish background and found reading and writing English a challenge.

To begin with, our Housing Support Worker visited Mary while she was in rehabilitation. This helped build rapport and gave time for planning and goal setting. The worker supported Mary to access funds so she had emergency accommodation arranged when she finished her treatment.

A short time later Mary was allocated a 2 bedroom home through the Housing Authority. The Housing Support Worker advocated strongly on Mary’s behalf for a 2 bedroom home so she had the room for her son to live with her in the future, when custody arrangements had been sorted.

Mary was also supported through our Emergency Relief program, she received vouchers for food when her son was transitioning between Mary’s home and his grandmother’s place. As Mary’s son was not staying with her full-time Mary could not access parenting payments, so she needed the extra support to be able to provide for her son.

Mary was also provided an Indigo Junction “starter kit” which included the basic homewares she needed to set up her home.

The Housing Support Worker encouraged Mary to connect with the Women’s Legal Service who assisted Mary regain full-time care of her son. This was a major achievement for Mary. To continue to foster and build on the relationship between Mary and her son, the Housing Support Worker linked Mary with parenting support, medical and counselling resources as well as the local school.

As Mary’s confidence grew she was encouraged to attend Indigo Junction’s Lit Up literacy lessons. These lessons gave her the confidence to enrol in a Business Studies course at TAFE.

Mary has turned her life around! She is on track with her recovery and her relationship with her son is blossoming. She has finished a Certificate II in Business Studies and has just been successful in obtaining her driver’s licence. To top it off Mary has been offered employment. Mary is excited about her future and is enjoying the freedom of living independently and building a strong, positive relationship with her son.