By the time Taylar turned 21, she already had a lot of responsibility – she was a mum to three young children and didn’t have much support within the community.
“The Department of Child Safety connected me with YFS after I got custody of my son again,” said Taylar. “At first, I was very hesitant about it because in the past I never really had success fully engaging with a service. Not totally.”
“But YFS took it at my pace – they didn’t just hit me up with a whole lot of questions.”
“My son’s support worker, she was supposed to just be there for my son as he transitioned home, but she supported us all. My whole family.”
Since taking part in the Step by Step (young families) and Spark (employment mentoring) programs, Taylar has been able to help her young son access specialist supports, work on her job-readiness skills, and build her resume.
“YFS helped me get connected so my son could get into speech therapy and OT through NDIS. They were on top of everything.”
For Taylar, receiving a number of different supports from the one organisation was invaluable.
“I’m glad YFS came in when they did because it really helped. You’ve got everything in one – like housing and work and family support. It’s a big, wide community; so kind and generous.”
Taylar now works in disability support, has her own home, and has almost finished studying a Certificate IV in Youth Work. One day, she would like to work for an organisation like YFS.
“No-one is ever rude or disrespectful. They know what they are doing and they care.”
And while balancing work, study, and parenting as a young mum is still challenging, Taylar is in a much better place.
“It is definitely hard. It’s hectic. But I’ve now got a little circle of people – it’s not huge, but they support me and that’s what I really need to keep myself going.”
