Saige:

Before arriving at Triple Care Farm, Saige’s life was filled with “lots of fear, lots of trouble,” she says.

Things at home were chaotic and she was constantly in trouble at school. By age 11, she was stealing alcohol from her parents; by 14, she was using drugs.

At 17, she tried ice for the first time.

“From that day on, I was addicted for a year straight,” she says.

As her substance use worsened, she disconnected from school, lost her job and eventually wound up homeless. She couch-surfed at friends’ places; for a while, she lived in a tent on the beach.

One night, she stole a friend’s car to get away from a drug deal gone wrong and passed out at a red light. She woke up to a police officer pulling her out of the car.

“It was the scariest time in my life,” she says.

It was also the wake-up call she needed. She started researching rehabilitation programs; before long, she was on her way to Triple Care Farm.

Finding courage, building community

The Saige of today is almost unrecognisable: happy, healthy and with a permanent smile on her face. This is the Saige who completed treatment at Triple Care Farm, who continues working on her recovery and who has achieved the one goal she’d set herself when she first reached out to Triple Care Farm: to make her mum proud.

All this became possible when she found the courage to ask for help.

At Triple Care Farm, Saige encountered the non-judgemental support she needed to start rebuilding her life. She also found herself surrounded by other young people who were walking a similar path.

“[It] gave me a sense of community, going through the process with people who understand how you’re feeling,” she says.

“My life completely flipped.”

The support continued through Triple Care Farm’s aftercare program. The first few months after leaving treatment is a particularly vulnerable period; the Farm’s six-month aftercare program connects young people with ongoing support as they make the transition back to the real world.

Saige was paired with Linda, an aftercare worker who helped her continue walking the path to recovery. Finding a job was the easy part; the real work came in learning to trust herself, and the world, again.