KYLIE'S STORY.

Trigger warning: this brave story discusses domestic violence, addiction, drug use, homelessness and loss. Please read with care.

“I feel like no one is immune to these things, you know?”

"There was a lot of factors that led up to it...but at the end of the day, domestic violence was the key thing that threw everything off the rails for me.

I’ve had a number of very violent relationships; it’s taken me a long time to come out of it. I was only 16 when I had my first child…just a kid myself. I have five children, now - my two youngest boys, five and six, were placed into care for the past year. I was in a long-term relationship with their father, and things were a little tough for us for a while...but I think when COVID came around, it really intensified the troubles in our relationship. Things turned quite volatile.

I wasn't working; there was no money, for a long time. I felt very oppressed. Having two young kids, there weren't a lot of opportunities for me to work, and I felt that there was a lot of pressure for me at home.

Certain things came hand in hand; when the DV started, it sort of led me to drug use. I haven't come from a background of addiction - my parents didn't even really drink, my mum never touched a drop in her life - but it was something I'd always struggled with. And when you mix those dependencies with domestic violence, it’s a recipe for disaster. My life just fell apart.

There was a lot of things happening at once, there was violence…and there were two young kids in amongst it all. The violence got to a point where we had to have child protection involvement; my two youngest kids were removed. Things just got out of control so quickly. It was really hard to actually recognise what was actually going on; there’s no bird’s eye view, being inside of it.

“When you're living it, you don't really see it…and you can't see out of it.”

But that was my big wake-up call. I’d lost my kids and was in a relationship that I didn't want to be in…so I finally walked out, with a small sports bag of my things. I managed to get into a rehab quite quickly; it was one of the things that I needed to do, to work towards getting my kids back, so I did that straight away. I spent about five months in rehab; I was really lucky to land in a place that was supportive in the way that I needed it to be.

I was about three months clean when I found Two Good; I feel like it was one of those meant-to-be things. I was in recovery and we had an ex-resident come in to talk about her journey with us; she had done the Work Work program, and she explained what Two Good was all about. She bought in some cookbooks and things like that, and spoke about how it had been part of her recovery journey.

After that, I ended up in another rehab doing a parenting program, and one of the girls there had just started a Work Work intake. She said, you should definitely do it too, it seems really cool, so that’s what made me finally make contact.

It was really nerve-wracking, that first time making contact with Daf; I just wasn’t sure of my own capabilities and I really wanted to get into the intake that this other lady was in. I had missed it just by a few days, but I started the Cook + Connect program on Saturdays - which was a really nice way to get familiar with the place and slowly get into the routine. I found it a lot easier to transition into Work Work, since I already knew my way around and where things went.

Things really started to change in a positive way for me. I really enjoyed it at Two Good, as hard as some days were. It was fairly easy work, but it can be quite difficult on the body - just being on your feet at day after having a break from the workforce. And I'm the sort of person that takes things to extremes and gives everything all my effort."

"It was really cool to work in the Two Good kitchen - there's so many moving parts and so many things happening all at once, so I got a little bit of experience doing a lot of different things. There’s a lot of understanding for everyone's situation and where they’re at mentally; it was the perfect soft landing for me. It helped me get that routine back; to find my feet again in the workforce and realise there are things that I'm actually good at doing.

It felt like really important work too, what we did there; at the time, I was living in a refuge, so I knew firsthand the impact of having a meal at the end of the day that's nice, and easy, and tasty. It really made me put that extra bit of care into cooking those shelter meals.

I liked working alongside the corporate teams who came in for their team building days, too; it gave me that bit of social confidence back. My past experience with supervision helped me - I used to work in the mines for about four years, supervising cleaning and kitchen teams, and I was a housekeeping manager for a while too - so it was good to have the opportunity to be in that space agian. I’d become so socially isolated the past few years, having that bit of interaction in the workplace was really important. Being paired up with the mentors from Channel Nine was really, really helpful too; having that other voice giving you that nudge to look at different places of work.

I'm currently finishing my last few weeks in hospitality, and then moving on to a role in Community Services - I'm so excited to start the new year with a new career path. I'm looking forward to using my own past experiences to help motivate other women who may be in a similar position. I know in my own journey, the people who really understood what things are like, were the people who have helped me the most. It’d be really nice to be one of those people for somebody else.

I'm also living in a home now, with my two youngest sons again - close to the beach, which is a dream come true. I've just received my Community Services certificate - which was a big milestone - and last month, I was 18 months sober. It seems like a long time when you're living it, but looking back now and seeing how much my world has changed in 18 months is mind-blowing. And huge part of that is Two Good being one of those stepping stones...it opened so many doors for me.

“It gave me a sense of purpose; somewhere where you're valued and you feel like you're part of something else.”

I owe a big part of my sobriety to what I did at Two Good; it really was something that helped keep me clean. I was sad to leave...there’s so much love. I don't think that anybody could possibly imagine the impact Two Good has had on my life. I can share my story, but it feels like my words don’t even do it justice.

When I first got to Two Good, I felt really broken in a lot of ways…my life was broken. I thought employment was so unreachable; one of the hardest parts was just believing that I’ve got what it takes. But it reminded me that I do have skills, I do have employable qualities – it’s given me the grit and the drive to go and find further employment. And that’s been huge.”