Fayes’s Story
Fayes's Story
“One of the biggest challenges before this program not being able to get a part-time job and not being able to have enough money and just struggling when it comes to money and pay off my bills… I struggled a lot with my living situation before”
Faye began our program in July 2023 where she began working at our RMIT coffee cart and then transitioned to work at our Melbourne University and Brunswick Cafes. For Faye, her participation in our program wasn’t always easy, and the commute to work meant she would sometimes struggle to attend shifts on time. Faye was also quite shy as she started our program, finding it difficult to confidently interact with customers. As she became more comfortable in the space and performing her role, she felt confident to express herself freely and take on new challenges.
“I had so many people around me who helped me so much every day. I learnt discipline. I matured while I was at the program. I learnt how to be on time. I learnt how to communicate with people confidently. For Change Co help me prepare for interviews how to act and dress for an interview.”
Faye reached a turning point in our program where she understood not just the responsibility of work but the personal and financial value it brought to her life. She began to really engage with her employment goals planning and developed a strong sense of what she wanted to do post-program and what she wanted to do in her life in the longer term. Ultimately, Faye was able to transition to permanent housing whilst engaged in our program and when she graduated, she moved into employment in childcare.
“I learnt how to act and speak in the workplace which really helped me get my new job at a childcare centre. My practice with customer service really helped me to speak to parents and it made work so much easier in my new role. I live in a one bedroom apartment that is very beautiful and it’s also permanent housing”
Faye’s success in our program and her growth in personal wellbeing and confidence was echoed by her support worker:
“I have seen an improvement in her independent living skills, in particular around building a daily routine to attend work and other commitments. (Faye) has given positive feedback about learning new skills and about the work environment being friendly. I believe it is amazing that a young person can learn new skills and build a routine in such a youth friendly program and at the same time earn an income. There are similar programs that offer Hospitality training but they require the young person to work for free and often this represents a barrier.” (Stefania, Faye’s support worker)
Faye has also recently bought a car after months of saving money. This has eased her commute to work and opened up a whole new range of personal and employment opportunities for her.
“I’ve just completed Disability support worker certificate 4, I wanna start working as a disability support worker, get more experience in that work and then hopefully in the future I’m planning to start my own NDIS business. I’m also teaching myself how to be a forex day trader because I wanna pursue trading on the side In my career.”
