CW: Discussion of domestic violence and abuse
Everyone deserves to have a safe place to call home - it should be a given.
Bridge It, an incredible organisation and MECCA M-POWER partner based in Melbourne, aims to break the cycle of homelessness and increase connection and belonging.
Bridge It’s residential service, The Cocoon is for young people who identify as female and who are exiting out-of-home care or experiencing homelessness. Bridge It provides affordable housing as well as wrap around support including life and living skills development, therapies and community building activities.
Bridge It has big plans to make the world a better place for everyone, and is led by the organisation’s formidable CEO, Carla Raynes. So what led Carla to establish such a game-changing organisation?
"I’ve been working in the homelessness sector for nearly two decades. What I’ve seen is that when people enter into the homelessness system, they often really struggle to get out,” Carla tells M-POWER. “I wanted to start something that didn't exist....to support young people holistically, looking at all their life areas such as finding work, managing relationships, building self-esteem and finding long term housing.”
“I have worked in residential care, and I was told that I was not allowed to hug the children. Every single thing that the children said to me, I had to write down in case notes from the totally mundane - like what they said they wanted for breakfast - to the traumatic,” Carla says.
“The children had experienced so much trauma and needed love and affection as all children do. Instead they were placed in a facility that felt more like a prison. And then when they turned 18, they were turfed out whether they had housing to go to or not.”
She emphasises that the process results in over half of young people who have been in the out-of-home-care system, experiencing homelessness within the first 4 years. “It’s also feeding our homelessness crisis. We need to improve the care system, educate and support foster carers and provide housing and support programs like Bridge It’s Cocoon program to give children a stepping stone from care to adulthood,” she says.
Carla and Bridge It are committed to building homes, and not just houses. Why? Because a home is somewhere safe and comfortable. A sanctuary where young women can live and thrive.
“We need to improve the care system, educate and support foster carers and provide housing and support programs like Bridge It’s Cocoon program to give children a stepping stone from care to adulthood,...”
Carla Raynes, Bridge It CEO
MECCA M-POWER and Missing Perspectives wanted to platform the stories and voices of residents of the Cocoon...
Charlotte EP says: “So many horrible things happened to me when I was a little kid. I was not safe with my family, so I was moved to multiple foster homes. I would mix water and toothpaste in a glass sometimes because I was so hungry when some of them refused to give me food. I was sent to live with a foster carer who had significant mental and physical health issues which resulted in me having to look after her.”
One foster carer made me sleep outside in winter in a dog kennel and it was only when I climbed inside through the cat door, I was able to sleep inside. When I told people, they said I was lying. I remember staying with my mum’s foster carer (yes – she had been in the system too!) and I was made to bathe in filthy water which was only replaced every 3 days.”
I was continually passed through different foster care homes and never felt loved. I’m mature for my age because I had to grow up quickly. When I was 16, I was put into a type of accommodation which is a rental property where I was supposed to be living with an adult, but they were never there. I had the house broken into and everything stolen, it was so scary.”
She reflects on her achievements during her time at the Cocoon with Bridge It. “Now I am living at the Cocoon in Melbourne, and I am completing my year 12 equivalent. I have also recently finished a mechanic course and offered a job. I’m currently learning how to drive. I feel safe and supported and like that I have a real home.”
“The Cocoon has offered me a safe and cozy space to be able to let my walls down and enjoy doing the little things in life,” she says. “I have grown so much as a person in the past few months, having a little support group by my side,” Charlotte says.
““The Cocoon is a place where you can remake your own friends and family. Living at the Cocoon has allowed me to focus on my mental health without being judged and to live and work at my own pace.”
*Ella
Similarly, Ella / CH* shared: “There was violence in my home as a child. I remember my dad punching my brother in the face and he threw him against a wall. He regularly beat up my Mum, I once saw him smashing my mum’s head into the floor. There was a lot of drug use in my home, my dad was addicted to heroin.
“My mum and dad split up when I was 10 to be with my stepdad who was my dad’s best friend. He then moved in with my mum a few weeks after the breakup. He abused me in every way possible, mostly mentally, but also sexually. My mum witnessed the abuse and my stepdad’s heroin addiction and said nothing.
"When I think about what I experienced as a child, I ask myself often why me, why did this happen to me? I never felt safe or loved as a child and this affects me now. I have social anxiety, I scan people’s mannerisms, I feel I am looking out for danger and constantly masking my true emotions to not upset people. I was taken out home when I was 14 and moved in with various family members and spent time in a psychiatric ward.
“I feel like there needs to be more funding and housing available for people affected by family violence and more government funding towards child protection so that they would have more capacity to support families like mine.
“The Cocoon is a place where you can remake your own friends and family. Living at the Cocoon has allowed me to focus on my mental health without being judged and to live and work at my own pace. There is no judgement or unhealthy expectations from the community. I really love the openness and kindness of the community and I love getting together for cooking groups.” She says that she is “more hopeful for the future. I'm doing a traineeship as a barista and I am looking forward to studying mental health to support lots of people in the future.”
Aimee, another Cocoon resident, wrote: “It wasn’t long before I realised that in residential care, you come out more damaged than you went in. Its long-term effect on me has been anxiety. I was in residential care three years ago and that anxiety has never left me.
“I think the system is so totally broken and needs to be completely changed to keep children like me safe.
The Cocoon is a good pathway to rectify this issue and help set people on a good pathway for their future. In the last 12 months, I have gained employment, I started courses in hospitality and mental health, and I have developed friendships that are possibly lifelong with people who understand and support me.”
MECCA M-POWER could not be more proud of Carla, Bridge It, and the incredible residents currently residing at the Cocoon. Learn more over at https://bridgeit.org.au/
