At the age of 16, Maggie never imagined that she would ever be at risk of homelessness. Sadly, repeated patterns of family violence saw her life change forever, and her world fell to pieces.
Maggie began to act out and found herself in a downward spiral of depression, leading to a breakdown in her family home and nowhere to go for support. She was referred to Lighthouse’s therapeutic program and was welcomed into her new home. She slowly began to heal with the help of Lighthouse’s Care team and Clinicians. The trajectory of her life began to slowly change.
“The Care team at Lighthouse didn’t just give me a place to stay; they heard me when I thought nobody in the world could.”
Family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia, with family violence rates increasing in Victoria by a staggering 6.7%. This needs to urgently change. We need community support to enable us to reach more young people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. You can support vulnerable young people like Maggie and break this cycle of trauma for generations to come by making a tax-deductible donation here.
