Young people are some of the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Victoria.
Every night, more than 6,000 young people experience homelessness.
My Dad and I were always close. Mum passed away when I was 7 and I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so it was just the two of us for a really long time.
I quite liked primary school and had a good group of friends that I always hung around with, but midway through secondary school things started to change. Friends started to spread nasty and false rumours about me and soon enough nobody at school wanted to hang around with me anymore.
As each day went by things got worse. I tried to pretend that it didn’t bother me, but going to school every day became a horrible experience that I dreaded. I started missing days by pretending to be sick and when that didn’t work, I would just not turn up.
It was during this time that I started to cut myself when I felt stressed and anxious.
I knew it wasn’t a good thing to do and I was really embarrassed that people might find out, but I just felt completely overwhelmed. I became withdrawn and angry and eventually, I simply refused to go to school at all.
My relationship with Dad started to change around this time. It became so bad at home that every time we had contact it would turn into a screaming match. I never confided in my dad about what was really going on in my life as I didn’t feel like he would understand.
The only person I had to talk to was my boyfriend who was very supportive, however my dad really disliked him because he thought he was a bad influence. At the end of Year 10 I decided to leave school and look for a course to study. Dad hit the roof and we had a huge fight. He told me if I didn’t want to follow his rules, then I could find somewhere else to live.
My boyfriend’s mum let me stay at her house on the condition that I try to work out my problems with Dad. She gave me the phone number of MCM’s Frontyard Youth Services and recommended I contact them to find out what help might be available.
Sally's name has been changed to protect her identity.
You can play your part in changing Sally’s life or one of the 6,000 young people in Victoria with no place to call home.
Sleep At The ‘G on 10 May 2023 and raise essential funds to help put youth homelessness to bed.
