Lillian knows what it's like to struggle with school. She's dedicated her career to delivering housing help and now provides supported accommodation for young people that helps find the best education pathway for them.
Lillian’s career has been dedicated to delivering housing assistance to people in need. Straight from school, she started working for Homes Tasmania’s maintenance services and later moved over into its tenancy services.
After a stint working in education in NSW, Lillian returned to Tasmania. Today, Lillian is working for Anglicare Tasmania where she has been for around two years. She is Coordinator of the YouthCare service and Hobart’s two Youth2Independence (Y2I) facilities, something she is particularly passionate about.
“I was terrible at school. I didn’t like it. I just wasn’t interested,” Lillian said.
“I didn’t finish school, and it took me until I was 24 before I got to uni to do my degree in Social Sciences and I got my Masters in Social Work two years ago.
“That’s the main thing I want to share: mainstream schooling is not for everyone, but an education pathway is achievable.”
Lillian says education is not linear, people are ready for education at different stages in their lives and that’s okay.
“You don’t have to go straight from school to university. You don’t’ have to go to university because university is not for everyone but what Y2I offers is an education pathway that is right for each participant,” Lillian said.
“Education is key and I’m so proud to be part of a program that provides stable accommodation so young people can achieve their goals.
“It’s great to watch people transform. I’ve met young people who can’t look you in the eye when they first come here then six months later, they seek you out to catch up and fill you in on what’s happening for them."
Lillian says the support provided to participants is really important in helping them build living skills.
“We have a calendar of events that are held in the common area here at Trinity Hill. This week we had a cooking class for example and last week we had Relationships Australia here doing a session on how to have safe and positive relationship.
“It’s really important that young people have access to information and services where they can get advice and help if they need,” Lillian said.
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