Over the past nine months, Jason has embarked on a journey to reconnect with his family and culture. After many years of estrangement brought on by homelessness, he is eager to partake in his treasured family traditions this Year of the Rabbit.
Featured Image: Jason on the rooftop of his affordable, long term housing.
At 14, I moved out of home into a youth hostel but I didn’t last very long there, and I ended up couch surfing or on the streets. I became increasingly disengaged from school, and my support networks. I never actually passed Year 10, which I find kind of funny.
I got in with the wrong crowds, and my poor mental health became worse and drug abuse became a pretty big problem.
At 16, I had dropped out of high school and was completing a chef’s apprenticeship; at that time a friend’s family had taken me in. That was one of my lowest points, when it came to my drug abuse and mental health. I had a stable job and house, and I lost them. I just wasn’t well, and with my drug abuse I had little chance of keeping any semblance of normality in my life.
After a couple months of couch surfing, I decided to move to Melbourne to start again. I enrolled into a Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) TAFE program for the next year, and after spending Christmas in Queensland, I came back to Melbourne a day before classes started.
My brother and I had planned to have a place together, but that fell through, so I was couch surfing while trying to do my classes. I lived with a Greek family for a couple months, after that, before they went overseas and then I went back to couch surfing.
My first couple months alone were relatively good with minor drug use, but it wasn’t to last. An old friend came down from Queensland, and I fell in with a new crowd he knew here so I moved in with them. Living with them was the most stressful, and never ending 10 months of my life.
One time out with friends, I took a substance believing it was another substance, and had a severe reaction. Within minutes of taking it I knew something was off, so I called my brother.
It wasn’t the first time that had happened, and I probably would’ve continued putting myself in those kind of situations. But, my brother pulled me up and said he wouldn’t stick around if I didn’t pull my head in.
I’d been disengaged at VCE but in my final year I started to turn things around. I decided couch surfing and hostels were better than the house I was living in. And in the second semester I got a scholarship for student accommodation.
I’m now in my second year of university, I’ve volunteered or worked in homelessness for just over three years. I’m in a calm stable share house and after graduating I hope to work in community development in the pacific. Maybe something about seeking help, it’s worth it, they’re worth it?”
The 17 April is #YHMD2019 a day to raise awareness for young people experiencing homelessness in Australia. 28,000 young Australians are without a home on any given night, often due to a housing crisis and family violence.
