General News
13 August, 2020
Casey comes 360
When Casey Wright was 24, she started dabbling with illegal drugs.
Casey comes 360
When Casey Wright was 24 she started dabbling with illegal drugs, at first she thought it was a fad, but when her friends stopped using, Casey continued with the habit.
Five years after starting, she went to rehab for substance abuse and has now been clean for over three years.
When Casey went to rehab the house she was living in was taken off her and her children removed from her care.
Casey was in rehab for nearly 5 months and says the hardest part was being away from her children.
It was after she got out of rehab that she called Mareeba Community Housing to help her find somewhere to live with her two young boys.
“There wasn’t a lot of affordable housing available and a lot of the local real estate agents knocked me back.” She said
“I couldn’t be reunited with my boys until I found somewhere safe for us to live.”
Mareeba Community Housing (MCH) helped Casey find somewhere for her small family to live with subsidised rent.
MCH also offered Casey resources to get back on her feet like counselling, rent assistance, tenancy goals and how to achieve those goals.
“If people are struggling they really need to tap into those resources. “
“We were in that unit for 2 years until I got back on my feet and I could find a house with a yard for my boys to play in,
“While I was in community housing, I learnt about paying rent on time, passing rental inspections and creating good rapport with the landlords.”
Casey has come full circle and now works as a property manager at Mareeba Property Management.
“I see a lot of homelessness and my past has made me empathetic to people who are doing it tough, especially mothers that are trying to get their foot in the door so they can get their children back.”
“I believe that homelessness could happen to anyone, anyone could lose their job, or have a marriage breakdown and become homeless.”
“It was a massive learning curve and I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t go through that.
Casey said that her experience now helps her to help other people. “Now people come to me for help or advice. I try to guide them, using stories from my own journey. “
“People need to know that not all addicts are bad people we’ve just lost our way.”
“I’m grateful to the people who stepped in and helped me, otherwise I would have ended up in jail, rehab saved me.
“I really am grateful to people like my parents and MCH, it’s good to know that there are people out there who want to help.”
