By the time Sara Scott-Hitchcock was 17 she had spent time under child protection, moving in and out of residential homes, foster and kinship cares, and then she had nowhere to live.
"I moved home but I had a relationship break down with dad," Ms Scott-Hitchcock said.
Not able to live with her father anymore, she became homeless.
When she got the chance to move into Shepparton's Education First Youth Foyer, everything changed.
Now Ms Scott-Hitchcock is studying a Diploma in Community Services and has managed to buy her own home.
This week she is presenting at the 4th Annual National Housing and Homelessness Forum in Darwin about her experience at the youth foyer, and why more are desperately needed around the country.
More than a place to stay
The Education First Youth Foyer in Shepparton opened in 2016, providing safe and secure accommodation for young people aged between 16 and 24 who are unable to live at home or do not have a stable place to live.
A partnership between Berry Street, Beyond Housing Network, and Go Tafe, the foyer gives stability to young people while they pursue education and work.
They can help about 40 young people at a time, and more than 200 have come through so far.
"It's not just a roof over their head," said senior manager Anita McCurdy.
There are key workers on site who also help link the young people into other health and wellbeing services, as well as teaching them living skills and helping them make connections in the community.
There are 13 youth foyers around the country, but the Shepparton group was specifically asked to represent the model at the Housing and Homelessness Forum.
"People come and see the Shepparton foyer if they want to learn more about it because we're pretty spot-on about how we're doing it," Ms McCurdy said.
"And I think that's complimentary of the Shepparton [community] as well, in terms of their engagement and how they've taken it on."
Ms Scott-Hitchcock stayed at the foyer for two years while she was working and studying.
She has since been working there full-time as a youth worker and has just landed a job in Brisbane.
Ms McCurdy said it was vital to connect with and engage the young people during a time when they can be pretty vulnerable.
"It's the pre-independence age. If you look at the stats, young people are staying at home until they're 27, so when they don't actually have a home they've got a decade of no support," she said.
"That puts them on the back foot.
The big issues
Homelessness rates for young people in the Ovens-Murray region have risen 6.4 per cent in just the past year.
Beyond Housing said a quarter of their clients are under the age of 24.
A major barrier, according to Ms McCurdy, is the complete lack of rental properties. They are having a great deal of trouble finding places for people to move to after their time at the foyer.
She anticipated demand for the foyer would only increase.
Sara Scott-Hitchcock is hoping her presentation at the Darwin forum will help build momentum for other youth foyers to be built.
And with the federal election coming up, Ms Scott-Hitchcock has her eyes fixed on who is planning to tackle the issue of homelessness head-on.
"There's also been a big spike in mental health concerns," she said.
"I would be voting for whoever's got the biggest ideas and differences in those areas."
