Anna:

Throughout her childhood, Anna* saw her parents struggle with drug and alcohol use. As a young person, she found herself on a similar path.

“My home life was always chaotic and unstable,” she says.

“It really shaped the person I grew to become in my early teenage years.”

She started experimenting with hard drugs at an early age; before long, she was expelled from high school for non-attendance and behavioural issues.

“I was so unhappy with my life. Drugs were just an easy escape for me,” she says.

Finding the courage to seek help

At the time, Anna couldn’t see a way out, but somebody else could. Her older sister Elena* had been watching her grapple with addiction and stepped in to help.

By then, Anna was using Xanax, ice and other drugs every day. Elena encouraged Anna to come and stay with her, and she also started looking for rehabilitation programs that could help Anna start a new chapter.

It turned out to be the nudge that Anna needed.

“She found Triple Care Farm on Mission Australia’s website, and she sent me the link,” Anna says.

“At that point, I could see the impact my addiction was having on the people around me. When I found out my sister was pregnant with my nephew, I knew I had to sort out my life for her and for him.”

Like many young people, Anna wasn’t ready for rehab the first time she enrolled. She left the program early after a couple of weeks. But, once her nephew was born and she started slipping back into her old life, she saw how destructive her drug use had become.

A short time later, she signed up for Triple Care Farm again.

“This time it was different, because I genuinely wanted to make a change,” she says.

“For the first time, I actually saw a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Bigger, better, braver

At Triple Care Farm, along with withdrawal and residential rehab, Anna attended individual and group counselling and started working on her fitness. She also completed a Certificate II in Further Study Skills, preparing her to return to education after treatment.

By the end of her time at the Farm, she felt ready to start rebuilding her life on her own terms. She moved in with her aunt, continued working on her recovery goals, and started an electrical apprenticeship. It was a new life, created on her terms.

“[I’m] so extremely proud of myself because of all the hard work I had put into my life. It proved to me that I could make something of myself despite my past,” she says.  

Anna’s resilience remains the driving force behind her recovery. She’s now living independently, mentoring junior apprentices at her company and volunteering as a netball coach. She credits her time at Triple Care Farm with empowering her to uncover that inner strength.