“Everyone Deserves a Chance”: Marija’s Story and Why Support Matters
Marija grew up in a big and loving family. “My parents were born in Croatia but my siblings and I were born in Australia. Our life was very traditional – we learned to speak Croatian, knew all the Croatian dances and went to church every week.” However, as she got older tensions grew between her and her parents. In Marija’s view there was a gender divide where there were higher expectations of the daughters. “girls were meant to stay at home and meet a Croatian boy”, while boys had more freedom. She began struggling to fit into the Croatian community. She stopped going to church and the tension increased when she started seeing an Australian boy and her mental health came under pressure. “I really needed someone to sit and listen to me and give me time,” she says.
In the end, her relationship with her parents became so charged that she had no other option but to leave home. It was the beginning of December; she was 15 and she didn’t have a plan. She packed a small bag, took her toothbrush and left. On the first day she walked and walked and got badly burned in the daytime while the nights were cold. “Every day I would change what I would do because I would think that people were following me and I didn’t want them to know my pattern,” she says.
Marija is the chair of the Youth Homelessness Representative Council at YFoundations.
At this point she had no phone, no bank card, no ID and nowhere to stay and she lived rough, or couch surfed until school started in February. At school, her teachers were able to help – Marija says that her principal and teacher mentor worked wonders, mediating with her family so she could get some personal belongings and making sure she has a safe place to stay.
Marija got into a refuge and was connected with a youth worker. “We met every week at the same time and place for 7 years,” she says, and she credits the stability of this relationship for her path out of homelessness. “Having the same person meant I didn’t need to retell my story at any time. He was non-judgemental but he also challenged me to do things – he didn’t do everything for me. If I wanted to do something he said – well, how are you going to do that?”
Marija says that the program that funded her youth worker ran out of funding last year. “I was spewing when I heard because it was a really great program which met young people where they were in life, but also was about enabling them to succeed,” she says. That certainly shows through in Marija’s life as she now works in the homelessness sector and has just bought her own home.
Her trajectory is possible for other young people that can’t live at home, she say, if we all play a role in helping. “If you are an adult, you have a responsibility to care about children that are just trying their best,” she says. “Everyone deserves a chance and an opportunity in life.”
This Youth Homelessness Matters Day, you can help create more stories like Marija’s. By raising awareness and supporting vital programs that meet young people where they are, we can help break the cycle of youth homelessness. Visit give.pif.com.au/yhmd to learn more, share Marija’s story, and support the work being done to ensure every young person has a safe place to call home.
