TAMI-LEE

Hi, My name is Tami-Lee and I am a mother of two children (5 months & 5yrs). I first came to YHES House in 2002 when I was pregnant with my first child at the age of fifteen. I initially came to YHES House to attend Ante-natal Classes for eight weeks and who would have thought I would still be accessing YHES House Services five years later.

During the past five years I have attended two antenatal classes for the birth of both my children, a playgroup with my son and accessed the Workers numerous times. I have always found YHES House very helpful and it's good to know that even if you go away for a while you are always made to feel welcome. What I really like the most is the ongoing support by the workers which in turn has empowered me and my partner to work towards one of our goals which was finding a permanent house.

Now things are looking brighter and I know that things can only keep going up from here. Even though I have recently moved to Brisbane I know that I can come back to YHES House and feel supported.

I remember one time I had to attend a family support meeting and Tamsyn came along to offer her support. This meant a great deal to me because things would not have gone as well as they did. I really felt supported and this is exactly what keeps bringing me back to YHES House.

I would encourage young people to access YHES House because you shouldn’t have to feel alone or feel like you have to deal with something all by yourself.

Sometimes just having someone to listen can go a long way. I particularly liked the GP in the old YHES House. Having access to a doctor on site was very helpful and something that I would like to see in the future again.

KASEY

My name is Kasey and I am 21 years old and a mother of a two year old named Cartah. I am also expecting another baby boy due on the 25 of December. I moved here from Bateman's Bay when I was seventeen and it was very hard leaving all my friends and family. After being up here for about six months, I met my boyfriend Troy and about one year later we had our son Cartah.

I heard about YHES House and thought I would come to the mother’s group. I have since made a lot of lifelong friends. I am currently attending the Child Birth education class.

BRONWYN

My name is Bronwyn and I am an eighteen year old single mum. I have one baby and she is nine months old. I first came to YHES House to join up the Parenting class following a recommendation from a friend and have now been attending for the last four months. When I first came to YHES House I was going through a difficult time. I was struggling and really needed accommodation. Yhes House found me a place to stay and now have my own place.

I have been up on my feet for a while now and to this date continue to come here for more support.

YHES House has helped me with a lot of things including learning about why babies cry. Babies cry for different things. Thanks to these parenting classes, I now know a lot more things. YHES House is a good place to not only learn new things but also a place to meet other people with similar interests. I really enjoy the company of other people who come here. I now come here all the time for more support because there is always someone to talk to.

JESSICA

I am a single eighteen year old mother with a son who is 9 months old and his name is Tyson. I first came here last year when I was pregnant. I have learnt a lot about babies. Tamsyn has helped me heaps. She has also linked me in with a lot of helpful places. I enjoy meeting other mums and babies.

You can really find good friendships. Here people listen, then help you when you are in difficult situations. They help you get out of those situations. I have always felt supported. I recommend YHES House to anyone who needs anything. I love Wednesday morning group.

DENIZE

Hi, my name is Denize and I am expecting my second baby. I came to YHES House when I was fairly new to the Gold Coast. When I accessed YHES House I was looking for a place to socialise and this is what I found here at Yhes House. At this point in time I was also looking for a place to live. This was a rough time and I was having my ups and downs. Tamsyn and Wendy at the time helped me find share accommodation.


What I like the most about YHES House is the friendly staff that you can always talk to and you don’t have to be scared of them when you visit. They are helpful with a lot of things. YHES House is a comfortable, friendly and a supportive place. Since being here I have formed a lot of friendships

SHELLIE

I am a nineteen year old mum with a ten month old son Adam. I first came to YHES House when I was sixteen. I found it in the telephone book because I wanted some counselling. That counselling session was really helpful, I was pregnant and thinking about an abortion.

The youth worker was not judgmental but very supportive of what I wanted to do. I then decided to keep the baby and YHES gave me all the support I needed to do that, including helping me with the practical needs like pram, clothes and nappies.

Being heavily pregnant it was difficult for me to catch a bus to the Childbirth education classes, so Suzanne, the Young Parent’s Pre-Natal worker, came and picked me up. I was really scared about childbirth because I didn’t have a mother to help me and I was only able to attend 3 groups before the baby was born. However, Suzanne spent a lot of time with me and gave me a lot of information from the groups I had missed.

This really helped me through the childbirth because it gave me enough information not to be scared of it. Because of that I was able to have a natural birth.

Also having the doctor at YHES was great because he was really understanding and linked me to a Mid wife who bulk billed and did my ante-natal check-ups every 2 weeks. I spent a lot of time before trying to find a doctor, but most weren’t taking new patients or didn’t bulk bill so I couldn’t afford them.

After I left hospital it was great to have Tamsyn, the Post—Natal worker, drop in to see me. I started attending the new parent group when Adam was three weeks old. That was really helpful because they have a lot of different speakers come in and talk about the different parts of baby development.

I was always scared that I may not be a good mother and being able to go to YHES has helped me to feel a lot more stable and to know that I can do it.

YHES have made me feel more confident in my abilities. Knowing that I could ring any time, and they would assist me with what I didn’t know, put me at ease. When I am having a bad day, they have been able to help me put it into perspective and affirm that I am a good mother.

By attending the groups, I have also made some good friends, which I now see regularly outside of YHES House. I moved from the Central Coast to the Gold Coast and haven’t really been able to make sustainable friends before. Also being pregnant and having a child can isolate you.

Another thing that has been really useful, is that YHES linked me into lots of different services that I needed, such as Child Youth & Community Health, AMEND, FIBS Program and Lifehouse.

FIBS has helped me to learn more about development and bonding. I had some drug problems and AMEND has helped me to be free from drugs and has given me strategies to prevent relapse. I have also been linked to a Lifehouse mentor and through that I have been able to be involved in a Peer Education Program.

I love going into the high schools and being able to talk to the young people about the consequences of teenage sex. That has given me a lot of fulfilment because I didn’t feel like I was achieving anything before. It is a relief to know that, even though you are a mother, you can still be involved in the community and doing something productive. Being young it is important to be able to continue to achieve goals and things for the future.

YHES has been a great resource for me to learn all about the different aspects of my health and my child’s health.

"Without YHES, I don't know how I would have coped."