Blair's story transcript

Blair: I was kicked out of my house by my father when I was 17. I didn’t feel safe at my home and I didn’t really know where to go. It was in the middle of the night and I just brought a backpack. I was only in my uniform. I stayed at a park and just sat there for hours, just waiting for the sun to rise.

I contacted youth services trying to find accommodation. Thankfully, Taldumande got back to me.

Morgana: Taldumande Youth Service is a specialist homelessness service. With Blair, we were mainly focusing on stable accommodation. We wanted somewhere where she felt safe, secure and basically connected to LGBTI community.

It is a mutual relationship that we have together. It makes a difference to have someone who believes in you.

We were very fortunate to be one of the first applicants to be accepted in the youth service called My Foundations Youth Housing. They have a targeted program for the LGBTI community under a Transitional Housing Plus program.

Blair: Members of the LGBTI community can be discriminated against, and to have a service that helps and that understands is really important. I don’t feel like a stranger in my own house anymore. I’m comfortable and safe here. Every room in this place has a part of me in it.

I didn’t really get to experience being a teenager because of all of the situations in my life. It was very hard to trust other people. Figuring out my lifestyle, how I felt, who I was attracted to, it was really confusing. But now I’ve been more comfortable and I’ve been able to have more fun.

Morgana: She’s grown in her confidence, her self-worth and her self-esteem. To see her progress now, living in her own unit and living with her partner and being really happy, I think that in itself is a fantastic outcome.

Blair: My mother passed away when I was 14 and I was devastated. She was the one I could connect to the most and she understood me. She loved taking photos of herself. She felt like she was a model. And the one thing I want to do is get into fashion and in a way, do what my mother really wanted.

At the start of my homeless journey, I felt invisible. I didn’t really want anyone to pay attention to me. But now, I don’t want that anymore. I want to be loved. I want to have friends. I want to have a family and just be seen.

Return to Becoming Blair.