From House to Home: Michelle Thompson on Youth Homelessness & Hope

Nick: 00:01
Hi there and welcome to another episode of the Mental Health Couch with me, Nick McEwan-Hall. Today’s guest is Michelle Thompson.

Michelle: 00:08
Hi, my name’s Michelle Thompson. I am the CEO of Family Access Network.

Nick: 00:12
Most people know us as Fan. Fan supports young people 15 to 25, young families, and LGBTIQA plus youth experiencing or who are at risk of homelessness. With 25 years in this community sector and over two decades in leadership across AOD, mental health, family services, community health and youth homelessness, Michelle leads programs that create real change. Prices and transitional housing, targeted LGBTIQA Plus supports like Pride in Place and Talk with Pride, therapeutic care, including creative arts therapy, and essentials such as food security and material aid. Michelle serves on the Gateway Land Board, took part in Leadership Victoria’s inaugural LGBTIQA Plus Leadership Programme in 2018, and teaches at RMIT in the Diploma of Youth Work and the Recognizing and Responding to Sexual Violence short course. She holds qualifications in youth work, substance use, and counselling. What drives her is simple. When young people are given safety, support, and community, they begin to shine again. This was a conversation where I learned so much about Michelle that I didn’t know before, and I got some really good insights into the youth homelessness sector and how that whole thing works. So I think you’re going to find it really interesting. Here’s the interview. Well, welcome to the podcast, Michelle. It’s so great to have you here. I thought we would start off with a little bit of a story about what you do and what the work of fan is and how that all works.

Michelle: 01:36
Yeah, sure. Well, I’m a CEO of fan. I’ve been a CEO here for just over two years now. Prior to that, I was the manager and the team leader, and I’ve done case management. So I’ve been here for about 12 years. Fans have been around since 1981, and we work with young people who are 15 to 25, including young families and LGBTIQ plus young people. We’re mostly known for housing, really, and working in the homelessness space, but we’ve started to do a lot more in the family violence space recently. We’ve got a creative art therapy program. We’ve run groups in the past. We focus a lot on case management with the young people. We try and provide those wraparound supports, food, material aid. I guess we have a bit of a holistic approach that helps young people move from just surviving to, I guess, really thriving.

Nick: 02:31
Before we did the recording, you know, I asked you to answer some questions. And one of the things you you said in your answers was that you love that bit. You love seeing people start to thrive and come out of their shell and just sort of yeah, move through those stages. It must be a really satisfying thing to witness.

Michelle: 02:48
Absolutely. When you have a lot of young people who’ve come here because, well, around 90% have experienced family violence. Another huge proportion of clients we have are neurodiverse, and a lot of our clients, of course, are LGBTIQA as well. So they come with a lot of things. They just don’t come because they’re homeless, they might have mental health issues or AOD issues. And just to be able to see them come and then leave here, either in private rental or in employment or education is just amazing to see. I guess it’s why I like working with young people because you do see that growth and that change. And I guess that’s where change happens with uh young people. That’s why I love working with young people.

Nick: 03:33
I think it’s so true, isn’t it? And and the thing about young people and working with young people, I find, is that we’ve all been a young person at some point, and we’ve all had those struggles of being a young person, whether we’ve got privilege or not, right? Like we’ve all had that kind of classic, wow, being a young person’s heart and moving into adulthood is hard, and there’s all those things, and then you add some barriers on top of that, like the ones you just described, and suddenly you can so easily empathize with how difficult that must be. And on the flip side of that, just how helpful a service like yours must be for people in those situations.

Michelle: 04:09
Yeah, absolutely. And I guess it’s important to say too that there’s no two young people walk through the door with just one issue or the same issue as well. So for us, yeah, the work really is about listening deeply and making sure that young people feel safe and affirmed when they come to our service. Make sure we connect them with the right mix of supports. And yeah, it’s really about us helping them to become resilient as they sort of can move forward, I guess, with confidence and be able to leave our service and be supported in the community.

Nick: 04:38
Well, that must be really challenging to be able to show up and wrap around those really unique supports for each person that comes to the door, being a unique individual.

Michelle: 04:46
Oh, yeah, totally. Especially at the moment with the cost of living crisis. We’ve also got the housing crisis. Although a lot of young people are very resilient and very clever in the way they’re going about finding accommodation because there is a lack of affordable and safe accommodation, and usually that can also mean that yeah, young people are pushed into precarious or unsafe situations. So yeah, we’re seeing more and more young people who can’t cover basic essentials, and that’s been really tough. And I guess also thinking about particularly LGBTIQ youth who, you know, you know, that family violence and rejection really are still the the key drivers of homelessness. And all of those challenges pile up on people’s mental health.

Nick: 05:28
We’ve done some work together. I’ve worked with your team in the past, and we do those sort of rainbow contextualized programs and things like that to address some of those fundamentals of good mental health and well-being, but they’re so amplified in the rainbow community, they’re just yeah. And when you said that just then about yeah, family rejection and those sorts of themes are still one of the primary kind of drivers of homelessness. I went, wow, I’ve never thought about family rejection and the outcome of that being homelessness. I’ve never really connected those dots, but it makes so much sense.

Michelle: 06:00
Absolutely, particularly in the trans and gender diverse communities, it’s still not very accepting. And you know, for parents, they really struggle with that. So, yeah, that family rejection is quite huge in that community.

Nick: 06:14
You said before that young people are quite clever and ingenious about finding solutions to things. My curious brain wants to hear about that. Like I guess it could be good, it could be good or it could be bad, you know. I don’t know. But when you said that, what are you thinking about?

Michelle: 06:29
Oh, just thinking how they decide they come together as a community, they might meet in our houses and then they will band together and they will go and apply for housing together as a group rather than feeling unsafe about applying to live with other people that they don’t know, so that they are sort of you’re getting together as a larger group, and landlords like that. They like that they can sign people up individually. It means if someone leaves, someone else can come in. So it seems to be working. It’s still hard for our families, but for our our queer youth, they’re they’re sort of finding ways to navigate around the system.

Nick: 07:04
That’s really cool. It’s lovely, it’s a really lovely kind of thing to think about it, and that’s happening through the context and the connection that fan provides for young people, I guess, which is super nice. Yeah. That must be one of those moments where you’re like, yeah, you get all lit up. You go, oh wow, look at that.

Michelle: 07:20
Absolutely. That’s absolutely, and that’s what keeps me going, and that’s what brings me in here every day.

Nick: 07:26
We’re talking about that particular part of someone’s life, like homelessness or housing or something like that. But then you reference all those other bits and pieces around mental health supporting, creative connection, all those sorts of things too. It really does take a lot of stuff, doesn’t it, to get someone to the point where they feel comfortable to take a big step, like a lease or something like that, or moving into a house with people that they don’t really know maybe that well. It must be a huge kind of run-up to that outcome.

Michelle: 07:51
Yeah, definitely. And they do have 18 months with us in the properties, that’s how long they get their lease for. So that is actually a long time to work with someone to be able to build on their resilience, their life skills, all those sorts of things. And I guess like thinking about like in regards to mental health, I guess that’s a thread that runs through everything that we do. If you’re a young person who doesn’t know where you’ll sleep tonight, of course, that impacts your mental health. If you’re navigating trauma, family violence or discrimination, that really takes its toll. And I guess that’s why we’ve built mental health supports right into our programs. So our things like our creative art therapy, our talking with pride, and our casework, we’re always mindful of well-being. So, you know, we try and yeah, focus on the strengths, not just the struggles with the young people. And yeah, work on creating yeah, community and belonging because you know, that connection is often what makes you know the biggest difference we find with the young people.

Nick: 08:52
I was just thinking about like, I’ve never had to use a service like yours, right? So I’m quite lucky and privileged. I can imagine people might be a little bit unsure about what that looks like or maybe a bit scared about how that kind of works. And I thought it might be interesting to hear a little bit about that. What’s that process look like from the perspective of maybe a young person accessing a service like yours? Like, how does it work? What’s the process? What’s the pathway? Yeah.

Michelle: 09:15
Yeah, well, actually, something that we did take on as a project at the end of last year is developing an access key. So, for those who don’t know what an access key is, it’s when we had young people actually involved, they co-designed it. So it’s like a social story, it’s a script, it’s got photos of the place. So it tells the young person what is going to happen when they get here. So it actually, the photos show you where the front door is, it shows you what the interview room is like where you’re gonna meet your worker. It’s got a thing of all our workers, and it takes them through step by step what’s gonna happen. We largely did this because we have a huge neurodiverse client cohort. So we felt that this would help ease some of that anxiety about coming into somewhere that’s different. And yeah, it’s been really helpful. We so we send that to all of our clients, whether they’re neurodiverse or not, and we just find that it uh it helps. Everything looks familiar when they come in, then it’s not all new. It’s like, oh yes, I’ve seen where the doorbell is and I’ve seen where that is. So usually a young person would come in and they would go through an assessment, which usually takes about 90 minutes, and that’s a good opportunity then for the worker and the young person to build up that report and get a sense of what’s going on. And yeah, usually from there we’ll look about whether they’re a fit for the share house that they have to move into. We look at what needs they need. It’s quite a thorough assessment process to make sure that we’re getting the right mix of young people um living together.

Nick: 10:39
Yeah, amazing. So for what I’m hearing from a young person’s perspective is it’s really focused on them and what they need and where they’re at on the day, even with whatever they’ve got, whatever the challenge is on that day, or yeah, just being responsive to what they need and really centered on them.

Michelle: 10:55
Oh, yeah, definitely. We always come from we start where the client is, always come from that perspective. Yeah.

Nick: 11:01
Yeah, client-centered. We hear that so often, don’t we, in our kind of worlds and being client-centered and showing up for them. But that’s kind of what it’s about, isn’t it? It’s like saying, Well, what do you need? We can help you, but what do you need?

Michelle: 11:11
Yeah, absolutely. And that’s why we do get young people involved with our service and we do focus groups and get their opinions on something. We’re currently looking at developing a another house for trans and gender diverse young people, we get them in to hear what they want and what they would like so we can see how we can set the house up. It’s really important that we have that input from young people.

Nick: 11:32
Yeah, wow. Are there any sort of things that have come up in those focus groups that young people have sort of asked for or expressed that they would need or would like or would want that have been a bit surprising to you, I guess? Or maybe not surprising, but going, oh wow, that’s a good idea. Like something that you maybe wouldn’t have thought of if they weren’t involved.

Michelle: 11:52
Yeah, absolutely. I think the one thing I think stood out from us with a re recent focus group was um some trans young people saying they don’t want mirrors in the house. And I thought, what’s that about? Well, they actually don’t want to see themselves through the transition process, they don’t feel comfortable with that. I thought that was a really important thing to hear because normally when you set up a house, you got mirrors in the bathroom, mirrors here. So it was and they were all pretty all on the on the same page around that. So that was something that had us thinking about all right, well, that’s what’s important to them. So let’s put no mirrors, no mirrors in the house. Yeah. Certainly none of us had thought of that. That’s what’s so important to hear things from the young person’s perspective in what they need. It’s no point us as adults deciding what they need. So we’re very much into yeah, our clients having input.

Nick: 12:40
It’s incredible. When they’re in those environments, they must be able to just so inherently feel that they’ve been listened to and feel respected and feel valued and all of those things. Like when they walk into that house that’s got no mirrors, they’re going, Oh, there’s no mirrors in here. Like, yeah, that’s cool.

Michelle: 12:55
Yeah, absolutely. Then they do feel that they’ve been heard by an adult because sometimes that is something that often hasn’t happened in their life. So, yeah, it’s yeah, it’s vital.

Nick: 13:05
Yeah. Yeah, wow. It reminds me of when we’re talking about how do you provide support to someone for their mental health, it’s like, yeah, really want to figure out what that person’s life is like and what they’re going through and what their perspective looks like, and you know, what they need and what they won’t like and what they will like. And just rather than kind of just putting solutions in front of people, you know, rather than just building a house and saying, There’s your house, it’s like, well, no, but building this house for you to feel comfortable here, what does that need to look like? It’s got so many kind of resonant parts of that story that you told that I think about when I’m teaching people how to support people with mental health. It’s like, yeah, you need to ask them what they need. And you might have lots of ideas and all the tools, but you have to ask, you have to check.

Michelle: 13:44
Yeah, absolutely. And as you and I know, Nick, that you know, the young person is the expert in their life. We’re not the experts, so it’s really important that we do hear them as experts. Whenever we have them come in for focus groups or any of that thing, we always we always pay them, we pay them for their time, we pay them for their expertise. We don’t just see it as tokenistic, you know, like a lot of places might give you, oh, here you have some pizza. It’s really important to us that they are paid for their expertise. So that’s something that we do.

Nick: 14:13
Yeah, it’s an interesting point, isn’t it? I’ve definitely worked in places where that’s the norm and where it’s not. And I think on reflection, where it is the norm, you do get a different kind of result. Like you just you do.

Michelle: 14:26
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, and I guess we’ve learned from that because we did used to do the hey, come and have some pizza and we’ll talk to you. The richness of what we get now for paying them for their time is, yeah, you see that in in Lit, you know.

Nick: 14:41
I suppose too, like you’re an organization trying to achieve great things too, right? I’m just thinking, if you’ve got a consultant in or something, you pay them, you know, like it’s that kind of thing, isn’t it? It’s like, well, we’re consulting with this person or this group of people who have expertise that we need, it’s the right thing to do to pay them for their time in some way.

Michelle: 14:59
Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, we recently did get a consultant in to do some stuff around uh we did an evaluation around our creative art therapy program working with LGBTIQ young people who’ve experienced family violence. And again, they were also paid for their time and the richness that came out of those conversations with that consultant, we yeah, I just don’t feel we would have got over pizza.

Nick: 15:20
Yeah, yeah, no, I I can see that being the case too. We’ve mentioned the creative stuff a few times. I’m really curious about it because I feel like I’m a creative kind of person, and I think you are too, and I can see the benefits of that. But how does it fit into the picture of the support that you provide to your young people or your wider clients as well? Like, how does that creative practice work and how does it fit and how does it support people?

Michelle: 15:50
Well, I guess I was born out of starting to work with the family violence stuff. We have a lot of clients here who are seeking counselling and counseling support, whether you know, through a psychologist or a counsellor. Since COVID, the wait list is astronomical. And usually by the time the person gets to the top of the list, it’s too late or the gap for some of these services, they just can’t afford it. So we thought, what would work? We know when we’ve run our groups that art craft has been the thing that they’ve always been drawn to. We employed an art therapist and we just found that that was a way that you know, because sometimes they don’t want to talk. Sometimes they talk therapy isn’t always a thing. I mean, uh, I am a trained talk therapist, so I absolutely value it. But I think just that art therapy just has a yeah, a different edge for young people that they can work alongside the worker, they can discuss their things through their art, then you know, through movement. It’s not just about drawing pictures, it’s whole art therapy, it’s a whole range of things. What it’s doing with clay, so having that sensory stuff. We’ve just yeah, just found that it seems to really work. And look, it works so well that we’ve actually extending the program. We’ve just recently been funded to bring on another two art therapists. So it is something that we find works really well. And you know, sometimes they might go off and eventually go and see their psychologists that they’ve had to wait 12, 18 months to see. But in the meantime, it’s meant that we’ve been able to hold them, we’ve been able to work with them. A lot of them then feel actually more confident to go off and see a talk therapist. But yeah, just something there’s something about the creative arts and that just really seems to work.

Nick: 17:37
Yeah, wow, it sounds like a really um gentle way of talking about big stuff or things that might be going on and in a very relaxed kind of setting and that creative space. I don’t want to make generalizations at all. But I feel like rainbow communities are creative communities, and some of that comes from necessity. Like sometimes we have to get creative about how do we get stuff done, and that’s not necessarily a joyful creativity. Sometimes it can be a necessity, but then there is a beautiful, rich history of yeah, creativity in our community that’s just yeah, it’s right there, you know, and so using that as a way to expand, you know, it’s put someone in a position of, hey, this is cool, this is fun, this is nice, this is joyful, to talk about things that are maybe not those things must be so so nice.

Michelle: 18:29
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we’ve seen that with the groups and stuff as well, just that like what do you want to do this week? Well, I want to do art and craft. It’s like it’s always been a big theme here for years, but I think it it really did increase also over COVID, you know, because we had to work with clients online. So, what could we do online? And we would send them out the sort the stuff that they could do, the paint and all that sort of stuff. So that way they all still felt connected and they were still getting to do their art. And we find that, yeah, just that sort of maybe working in groups for some people who might have social anxiety. So they don’t have to talk, they can draw and still be a part of the group and still participate.

Nick: 19:07
It sounds really incredible. I love that idea you said there about if people are waiting for a long time, you know, 12 months to see a talk-based professional that that holds them and keeps them safe or safer and can allows them to get to that point. But I also love what you said about it could probably help them work out well, when I get there, what am I gonna say? What is the thing that I want to focus on and sift that out a little bit and help them craft that up, I suppose? Because going to a counsellor or a psychologist session one can be really overwhelming. It’s like, well, what do I say?

Michelle: 19:36
You know, so absolutely. Even as an adult, when I’ve had to go, you know, I’ve had my times and I’ve had therapy and I’ve gone, I was like, what am I gonna talk about? So I imagine being a young person where that anxiety is probably even higher. Yeah, it’s quite stressful. But we see them leave here, yeah, just more confident and more empowered and more, yeah, ab able to go and probably ready to do the work that they’re that they need to do, they’re ready for it then.

Nick: 20:02
Yeah. Yeah, wow. It sounds like a nice kind of pathway to getting that support. And I’m assuming, like while they’re doing that, you’re doing all the other wrap around stuff as well, that case management, that kind of support, person-centered care that you’re so known for, I guess, that’s gonna help them to get to that next step, whatever that might look like. What are the challenges that you and your crew face in doing the work? It must be so challenging in multiple different ways, but what do you find that the biggest challenge is? Well, maybe that’s too hard, the singular biggest challenge, but you know, what are the difficulties?

Michelle: 20:35
I think something that always sits with me, and I’ve always found it tough and that ethical dilemma that, and this is just the way that the homelessness system works, is that okay, you’ve got a vacancy in one of your properties, and what you need to do is assess four, five people, and then you decide who gets to move into that property. I think that is one thing that I find hard and have always struggled with that decision about well, who am I to decide who is the greatest in need. So I think that’s something we all struggle with in the system. I think we all struggle with when there is no housing, what can we do for this young person? How can we support them until there is? Um, so I know a lot of frontline workers are particularly struggling with these things at the moment about you’ve got someone who’s homeless and we’ve actually got no homes to put them in. And yeah, and you you are it’s almost like going for a job interview. You get to decide who gets it, who gets the space. Add all those other things in about the cost of living and all those things, but uh to me, that’s what I find the hardest is making that decision about who’s actually going to get housed.

Nick: 21:42
Yeah, because I it’s like so many of these decisions that we have to make when we’re doing this sort of work is yes, by saying yes, you get to have that housing position, that space. We’re also saying no to people, right? We’re also saying the the flip side is that also means that something is not. Not getting something. And when you’re an organization and a person who’s so focused on getting people things, that’s just a kind of baked in reality, isn’t it? It’s tough. I guess that’s where that wraparound support and that relationship building that you’re doing with them comes in handy. It’s like, well, that’s the thing that’s gonna help sort of keep them buoyed a little bit, maybe to kind of go, well, okay, not this one, but hey, we’re still here, we’re supporting you. This is what the pathway looks like, but still acknowledging that the difficulty of that too.

Michelle: 22:33
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And some sometimes we’re lucky enough that we can still take these clients on, even if we can’t house them, just to support them to link in with other agencies or get them into motels or get them into private rentals. So we do try and support them even if we have to say no. Unfortunately, we can’t support everyone. We’re a very small team, but we do try, and sometimes that has been really successful that it actually has helped that young person to get in somewhere else, even if it hasn’t been with us.

Nick: 23:06
Yeah. I think a lot of people, it’s probably one of those things, one of those areas. If you’ve never had to navigate the housing system, you probably don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know where I would even go to start that process if I found myself in need of housing. And I wonder if it’s useful for us just to have a bit of a talk about well, what does that system look like? And you’ve talked a couple of times, like you’ve got houses and fanhouse houses and that sort of stuff. Like from a big picture point of view, how does the system work? And that you may not be able to do it from a big picture point of view. Like we can go into the detail, but yeah, just to outline that a little bit for people listening to kind of go, yeah, that’s what the system is, that’s how it works, that’s how you navigate it.

Michelle: 23:48
Yeah, well, the system is complicated, and I think you know, if it’s complicated for workers, how is it for young people? Yeah. So there is supposed to be a thing where there’s no wrong door. So you can go to a homelessness service and they’ll do what’s called an assessment plan, and you’ll sit on the wait list at that organization, and then what happens is when because we’re a support agency, so when we have a vacancy, we’ll put it up on the system, and that means all the services in our area can see that we’ve got a vacancy, and that’s when the other organizations will then refer their clients in, and that’s when we’ll cut it off at four or five and do the assessment. So sometimes they can be put forward and not even be assessed, but our clients being told this from those other organizations, I really don’t know. So it can be a bit of a wait. Motels is something that is used. We kind of struggle with that because imagine putting an 18-year-old in a motel, it’s not the nicest of in environments, so that’s all they’ve got really to be offered. Or there could be a refuge, and with refuges, particularly LGBTIQ plus young people don’t want to be in a mainstream service either. So they yeah, might fear for their safety and stuff, so you know they’ll still continue to couch surf. Looking forward, I do feel a little bit hopeful. I’ve been part of the Ministerial Homelessness Reform Action Group, so get to meet with the housing minister, and we’re looking at looking at reforms, and hopefully these reforms are moving in the right direction. So hopefully there will be some changes in the near future.

Nick: 25:26
Yeah, wow, okay. So there’s lots of stakeholders, is what I’m hearing. Like there’s it’s kind of fragmented almost, like it’s sort of like, yeah, you go one place, but it relies on that connection and that door you walk through, knowing what the other doors are, really, to kind of guide that person through. And yeah, it sounds quite like a lot to navigate.

Michelle: 25:45
Absolutely. And I in particular think about our LGBTRQA plus young people, because sometimes they don’t if they’re in a mainstream service, they might not necessarily disclose things about themselves, and then they could end up in a place that’s not not right for them, they could and where they feel unsafe. So yeah, there’s a lot of things at play.

Nick: 26:03
Yeah, wow, okay. When you were talking about using motels and things and saying they’re not the nicest kind of environment, what went through my head was like there’s a difference between like a house and a home, right? There’s a difference between those things, and one is somewhere to be and the other one is a home. But a home and a home is more than just the building, it’s more than just the space, it’s a feeling almost, isn’t it? Like a connective thing. Yeah.

Michelle: 26:30
Absolutely. And there’s nothing about a motel that’s that’s a home. And when you think about that, we’ve all got a budget to work within, they’re not getting put up at the Hilton Northern Overtel. So they’re getting in places that look, yeah, just run down, probably not safe, probably other services have put people in there who might be perpetrators of violence. Like, yeah, you don’t know who’s being put together in in those motels. Yeah.

Nick: 27:00
Yeah, interesting. I think I do a lot of travel for my work. I do a lot of traveling and staying in different places. I get to a point where I’m like, I don’t want to be traveling. I don’t want to be in a hotel, I don’t want to be there. And that could be a really lovely hotel, like fancy pants hotel, but you know, I just go, it’s not home. All I want to do is be at home wherever that is. And for me, I’m lucky enough to have a home that I have and that I love, and but I do miss it. And so I think about that feeling I have. And sometimes it’s a big feeling, it’s like, oh, I don’t want to be here, I want to be home. And it’s not about the hotel, it’s not about that, it’s about this feeling of safety and where I feel comfortable and a bit free and light and those sorts of things. And I think I have that feeling, I can only then imagine what that feeling must be like for someone who doesn’t have the home, yeah, and only has the house.

Michelle: 27:54
Yeah, absolutely, Nick. And I think of the same things when I’m away too, because you know, after about a four or five weeks is kind of my limit, and it’s like I want my own bed, I want my own environment, and and I’m not staying in places that are unsafe. So yeah, living out of that suitcase, I mean it was just yeah, it’d be yeah, horrible.

Nick: 28:13
Yeah, it is, isn’t it? And even from that very kind of like privileged position that we’re in to be able to do those things, you do have that feeling. It’s gonna be something I I I take from this conversation actually, is that feeling and kind of going, yeah, I’m having that feeling, and you know, I don’t I mean I don’t complain about it, but I won’t anymore. You know, it’s sort of like, yeah, I’m lucky to have what I have, and it’s a very real thing that people don’t have these things. And I think I don’t think we get to really talk about it that much. I don’t think we get to talk about it that much or hear these stories very much about people who struggle with housing and and being home, having home. Like I feel like we don’t really talk about it that much. So, yeah, maybe we should.

Michelle: 28:55
Yeah, I I think there’s a lot of myths around homelessness. I think they all just think that homelessness is you know the homeless man you see in the park. I mean, homelessness has so many forms, and for some people, it is again mostly family violence. Some people are just a paycheck or so away from homelessness. We know that rents are going up. We’re seeing people that we probably wouldn’t have seen before in the last few years. You’re just seeing average people like us who’ve just circumstances have meant they’re homeless, and some people work in the sector who are homeless because they’re just being pushed out of the rental market, and in the community sector we don’t earn a stack. So, you know, it’s um you know, there’s actually colleagues who are homeless. It’s yeah, there’s that invisible homelessness that people don’t see.

Nick: 29:41
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as we were talking before about yeah, we have that picture in our head of someone experiencing homelessness, and like you said, someone who’s sleeping in a park or sleeping somewhere, but there is yeah, there is this other element to it, a massive element, isn’t it? Like even if someone has a place to stay, they may still be homeless, right? Yeah. I don’t think really people understand that. It’s one of those things that probably you if you don’t need to know about it, you don’t know about it, you know. And so there comes a lot of not not stigma, but like a lot of misunderstanding or just not knowing, even just not having the information to think about it.

Michelle: 30:19
Yeah, absolutely. And I remember when I was involved in a project prior to working at FAM when I was working at homelessness somewhere else, and we did a research piece and it was called um Wear Out Your Welcome. And that tends to happen a lot with young people too, that they do that couch surfing or uh their friend from school’s family will take them in. But we all know in the end that they do wear out their welcome, and it’s like then where to after that once they’ve sort of gone through all of their networks, and that’s that’s when that sometimes they do end up then rough sleeping, unfortunately.

Nick: 30:56
It’s really hard, isn’t it? It’s just I’m just thinking about what that experience must be like. I I can only imagine what it must be like. I’ve not been in that situation myself, fortunately, but yeah, incredible. And so I guess I’m curious about what are the big success stories that sort of stand out for you. I guess we’ve talked a lot about the challenges and all of those sorts of things. And we talked about, yep, you’ve got some people in mind where you just go, oh, look at that person go, that’s amazing. Are there stor are there particular stories that sort of stick out for you? And of course, you know, no names or anything, but just kind of thinking about situations.

Michelle: 31:30
There there are lots, there there are lots, but I might talk about the one who was my first client here when I started, a fan. Uh was a young gay man, he was 20, just about to turn yeah, 21. He’d come from a family that was intergenerational welfare. Yeah, lived in public housing and didn’t really work. They lived on welfare and all different things like that. And you know, he came in with a bit of an attitude. He wasn’t gonna do this. I’m not gonna live in a private rental, you need to get me public housing, I’d have no intention of working. Through a lot of hard work, and I guess that sort of building up of his confidence to say, look, you’re you’re smart, you’ve got a lot to offer, you can work, you can have anything you want in this world, like you can be in private rental, you can have a job, you can have a career, like all of this stuff. Yeah, and through through a lot of hard work, and like he is 32 now, so not a young person anymore. And I still have contact with him, he’ll ring me every few months, but yeah, he through that process, he has been in constant employment, he has been in constant private rentals. He is just, yeah, just sort of he’s broken that cycle of that intergenerational welfare family. He’s broken the cycle for them, and you know, and I guess the thing is about for me, we’re coming from that work being a youth worker and coming from that strength-based approach is just about building up his strengths and his confidence. And yeah, so he is living his best life. He goes on holidays and all the things that he never thought he would ever do. Yeah, just that that growth that I’ve seen over the years. And yeah, I still remember when over COVID and there was all those issues with toilet paper and things, and he um he used all of his resources and uh came and did lots of donations and things like that. So he’s turned into a wonderful young man who, yeah, just through sheer resilience and has just yeah, created a life that he never thought he would have.

Nick: 33:33
Yeah, wow, it’s incredible. Like it just yeah. I love what you said there about like he’s broken that cycle of of his experience, right? And probably created a new one, started a new story, a new cycle, a different cycle, maybe.

Michelle: 33:47
Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes that’s all it takes. Are the some of these young people have come from families where this is our story and this is the way it is, when there’s an opportunity just to stop that and create a new story for them and create a new story for their family. So I know if his family’s really proud of him. He’s just he has done something that no one in that family’s done for a very long time. So yeah, yeah, that that’s one of the ones that makes my heart sing. And every time he calls me, I’m always interested in what’s going on with his life now. There’s always some story, but um, yeah, he’s just yeah, amazing, really.

Nick: 34:22
Yeah, I can hear it in your voice and how you talk about it. And even the fact that he’s still in touch with you. That’s just probably flags a little bit just how impactful the services that he was provided through you and your team were for him, right?

Michelle: 34:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And we still have others who do tap in every now and then who were no longer young people and were clients many years ago. Um, so you know, which is lovely.

Nick: 34:46
That’s super nice. It sounds like in that person’s experience, like came through your doors with just a story of, yep, that’s how life has been, and so that’s how life will be, but shown another way to think about things or another possibility or options, right? Like what’s possible and a hopeful kind of story as well, to kind of say, Well, hang on, you know, where are you getting that story from? You know, what’s happening for you that’s kind of brought you here with that kind of outlook, I guess, you know, and not saying that in a judgmental way, but just going, well, that’s your reality, right? And and that’s I think the skill, isn’t it, of someone in that support role to say, well, okay, sure, that’s where you’re at. Where do you want to be? And if they don’t know, or if they if they can’t see options, is to gently show them those things and in a safe way, open up their ideas of what’s possible so that they can explore things and do things like you’ve just described. Like it’s yeah, it’s incredible what we do, isn’t it, in that sort of space?

Michelle: 35:47
Yeah, absolutely. And there is many, many stories like that. And I also think of someone who’s currently on our board who’s in her 40s, has a very successful career, and she was a client of fan many, many years ago. So, you know, just to see that growth and that hope that people have that, you know, just because this is going on in your life now doesn’t mean this is where you need to stay, that you can, yeah, flourish and grow and have all the things that you do want in life.

Nick: 36:17
Yeah, it’s a common story. I hear a lot where people go through things like you just described, like your board member’s gone through that that life experience, but then has received so much support that we want to turn that around and then help use that experience to provide for other people and open doors for other people. And yeah, I see that really commonly. I mean, it’s part of the reason why I do what I do. You know, I’ve been afforded such supports in my life. It’s like, well, I know how to do that, I know how that works, and I can show other people that serious kind of like hand-me-down of kind of experience that that we do. It’s a really common thread, I think, kind of community care-based world.

Michelle: 36:52
Absolutely. I think any of those who work in the helping profession, we all come here with a story, we’ve all had some sort of experience or known someone who’s had an experience, and I think this is what yeah, draws us to the work.

Nick: 37:05
Yeah, yeah, it makes so much sense. Yeah, it makes so much sense. I think people listening will go, yeah, that’s why I do what I do. I guess it’s also tied to that thing where we kind of go, Well, what do I want to do with my life? What am I interested in? Where did that come from? I think a lot of people can probably draw lines back to, oh yeah, when I was a kid I enjoyed this, so I was had an interest in that. And so that’s how we craft our careers, and that’s kind of how things work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What’s on the future? What’s like looking forward for fan and the work that you do? What are you looking towards? You know, what’s on the horizons?

Michelle: 37:39
Yeah, well, we’re very excited at this growth in our creative art therapy program. So the two two new people start in in a week and a bit. So having that growing the team has been amazing. And I think having that having that where we’ve got our staff who work in homelessness and our staff who work in family violence, because the connection is so great between them, that I think now sort of, yeah, feeling like um yeah, that we’re across both things now, and seeing that the team are going to be able to work together and that synergy and that really important stuff. And I think that the knowledge sharing and that will go on between the two groups and make us one, hopefully, is something I’m very excited about.

Nick: 38:21
Yeah, it sounds like a really nice natural connection between two worlds that might be kind of separate and quite sort of siloed, maybe not intentionally, but just kind of like they’re off doing their thing, but that sort of creative practice to bring yeah, everyone together with a common kind of activity. Yeah, I can see how that would be exciting for you, you know? Yeah, wow.

Michelle: 38:43
Absolutely, because we’ll you know, we know that if we can fix this thing, this family violence thing, then you know, we’ll actually have less people who are homeless.

Nick: 38:52
Yeah, absolutely. And and we know that stuff’s not just for young people, right? Like we know that family violence is such a yeah, it’s such a thing. Yeah. Yeah, wow, it sounds really exciting, the future and what’s happening there. Yeah, creative practice being core to the yeah. And before we were talking, you were talking about as we time of recording, we’re a couple of days out from Wear at Purple Day, and you’re talking about, yep, fans going all in on Wear at Purple. Talk me through how that kind of works. Like, why is for someone listening, why is Wear at Purple Day so important for young people that we work with?

Michelle: 39:27
Oh, I think it’s an opportunity for them to feel supported, feel proud about who they are. Here at Fan, I think it’s about 70% of our staff identify as part of the community. The young people will come in this week, they will see us all in our purple. We are putting on an event as well with all the purple cupcakes and all those sorts of things that you do. And it yeah, it’s a very important week for our young people just yeah, to feel that that support and from us and from other adults.

Nick: 40:00
Nice. It’s such a hopeful thing, isn’t it? It’s that signposting, that signs of hope, and that kind of idea of people can’t be what you can’t see in a way, and and to have it just so front and center. It’s like, yeah, that’s who we are, that’s how we roll. Yeah.

Michelle: 40:17
Yeah, absolutely. And the young people, as I said, because we’ve got so many staff from community, they feel safe when they come here and they can just be themselves.

Nick: 40:26
Yeah, nice. It’s a privileged kind of position to be in, I think, isn’t it? It’s like that’s takes a lot of hard work.

Michelle: 40:33
Yeah, I wish that was around when I was young. Yeah, definitely. You know, that was a a lot more struggles back then in the eighties, but yeah.

Nick: 40:40
Yeah, yeah, wow. It’s nice to be able to lead that as well. Like in your role to go, that’s the environment that you want to create for your team and for your clients and for the stakeholders. But yeah, nice to be able to be in a position where you can go, yeah, that’s how we’re gonna do this.

Michelle: 40:53
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think that’s part of what drew me here as well, was that getting the opportunity to work with the queer community as well and be that supportive adult that probably a lot of us didn’t have.

Nick: 41:05
Yeah, that’s a nice kind of sentiment, isn’t it? It’s like, yeah, I want to be that. I want to be what I didn’t have, or what I couldn’t what I couldn’t access, maybe, you know, or what might have been there but I didn’t know, or yeah, oh wow, nice. It’s been a really good conversation. I’m wondering if there’s something I always throw the mic over to the host at the end to sort of say if there’s something you want people to know about the work you do or the challenges people face or something, what would it be, you know? And it’s a really open, it’s like, what do you want people listening to this to know or do or yeah, to hear? Is there something that’s on your mind in that kind of regard?

Michelle: 41:42
Yeah, look, I think it’s important for people to realize, you know, what sort of support and role model they can be for young people, that young people are looking towards adults for social cues, support, all of that thing. So as an adult, you could make a huge difference in that young, young person’s life. You could really you really make a difference just from listening and being supportive, and and if they are needing any sort of assistance, linking them into services like ours where they can get that extra support. So, yeah, l listening really and being that role model, I think, is really important.

Nick: 42:18
Yeah, it’s a really good message, good reminder, and we role model to young people all the time, whether we’re thinking about it or not, right? So it’s like, how can we do that? What are the signposts we’re putting up for young people to see?

Michelle: 42:30
Yeah, absolutely, because they might not have a significant adult like a parent or or caregiver in in their life who are doing that. So sometimes it can be that sports coach or the music teacher. I mean, that’s all those things that you are that role model for that young person.

Nick: 42:45
Yeah, amazing. It’s a nice way for us to bring our conversation to an end. We if people wanted to find out more about fan or the work that you do, how could they do that?

Michelle: 42:55
Yeah, well, we are on all social media, so you’ve Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. Yes, thankfully, thanks to Kim, our new social media person. Uh, and we have a website, it’s gonna be updated, so that’s it. But it’s there’s plenty of information on there for now. But look, happy for anyone to give us a call, happy for anyone to come in and pay a visit and hear about the work that we do. We’re always super proud to talk about the work that we do. So, yeah, happy to offer that as well.

Nick: 43:25
Yeah, amazing. I know that a lot of people that I work with who listen to this are really creative and will love to hear of we’ll will have loved to have hear about all that sort of stuff, but maybe also want to get involved somehow too. So, yeah, I guess if you’re listening to this, reach out to Michelle and the team at Fan and get in touch. Yeah, it’s an incredible organization doing amazing work in really challenging spaces. It’s been a real pleasure to hear about it in a bit more detail and take people behind the scenes a little bit about how it works and what it looks like. So, yeah, thanks, Michelle. Thanks for coming on to the podcast.

Michelle: 43:56
Oh, thanks, Nick. Thanks for the opportunity for again me to share the wonderful work that we do.

Nick: 44:01
Yeah, you’re so welcome. Take care. Thank you. You’ve been listening to the Mental Health Catch with me, Nick McEwen Hall. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to stay updated on future episodes. You can also check out all the other episodes on our website at www.thementalhealthcoach.com.au