This month, we received great news from PIF House Bonbeach, the Property Industry Foundation VIC’s first home for homeless youth. Their longest staying ever young person, Layla* has said her farewells to the Lighthouse Foundation community. She is on her way to a farm stay for the next few weeks for a change of pace. She is very excited because there are horses on the property.
After that Layla will settle into her new independent life where she will have daily care from a roster of two workers, provided by NDIS, and that will keep her hopefully stable and engaged.
*Early days of Bonbeach
Layla came to the Lighthouse Foundation as a very young teenager and has been with them for seven years. During that time Dave and Jane were her carers at Bonbeach. Dave and Jane have been the in-house 24/7 carers from day one of Bonbeach and their roles are funded by the Foundation.
Layla became like a daughter to Dave and Jane. She was reflective in her farewell zoom with her Lighthouse friends amongst carers, other staff and young people. She said that Lighthouse has literally been her family and that she wouldn’t be here without them.
Together with building partner Australand, this home was opened in February 2014 and was handed over to the Lighthouse Foundation, to provide live-in therapeutic care programs for four young people aged 15-22 who would otherwise be homeless. The average stay is usually 18 months – two years.
