When you support Young Voices, Big Impact, you hold space for the voices that are so often lost in the chaos of homelessness. Take the story of Liam (name changed for privacy), a bright-eyed nine-year-old navigating storms far bigger than any child should face.

Living in transitional housing with his mum and two younger siblings, life for Liam has rarely felt steady. His little brother and two-year-old sister are both facing their own disabilities, while Liam himself manages ADHD. The family has weathered years of upheaval, including separation, family violence, and a long period in kinship care with grandparents. More than a year has passed since Liam last saw his father.

When Liam joined the program, he was quick to show his anger—sometimes arriving to sessions tense, negative, and defensive. He was a child who fiercely believed in fairness and would bristle when life felt unjust. Underneath, though, was a caring big brother who often tried to be the grown-up when things felt overwhelming at home.

Through regular visits with our Specialist Homelessness Children’s Practitioner, Liam was offered a gentle place to let his guard down. We celebrated his gifts, his quickness on the sports field, his ability to make others laugh, and we talked about the strengths he was still building: patience, forgiveness, and thinking things through. For the first time in a long while, Liam had permission to talk about what really bothered him – subjects at school he dreaded, how hard family life could feel, and dreams for a household where everyone felt heard.

With encouragement from his practitioner, Liam helped create new “family rules” – simple, hopeful agreements that reflected what he needed from home. Together, he and his mum learned strategies for talking things through and discovered ways to handle the things that felt unfair or overwhelming. Slowly, anger gave way to confidence and openness. Liam’s family began to communicate with greater patience and respect, building a new foundation for positive, long-lasting change.

Your support directly transforms the lives of children and young people experiencing homelessness by providing them with essential trauma-informed therapeutic care tailored to their unique needs. Donations enable us to employ specialist practitioners who build trusting relationships with these young individuals, helping them navigate the emotional and developmental challenges caused by homelessness.

Through your generosity, children receive not only professional therapy but also access to carefully designed toolkits and resources that support their emotional well-being, social skills, and educational engagement. Your contribution helps create a safe space where young voices are heard, valued, and empowered – fostering resilience, confidence, and hope for a brighter future.

Beyond individual support, your donation strengthens families by engaging parents and caregivers, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to better support their children’s growth. It also helps us raise awareness in the community about the often-overlooked needs of homeless children, encouraging systemic change and greater inclusion.

By investing in this program, you are helping to break the cycle of intergenerational homelessness, giving vulnerable children and youth the opportunity not just to survive, but to thrive. Your partnership with us sends a powerful message that every young voice matters and that together, we can build stronger, healthier communities.