Mark McCullough was just 12 when he first experienced homelessness. Thanks to a SA Housing Trust partnership program called Holbrooks (formerly known as Housing for Health), Mark is turning his life around.
Here’s Mark telling his story.
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Mark: ”I was 12 when I was first exposed to, first out of home, and I was put into foster care. I guess that I had never actually known what a home was, other than in foster care and other people’s homes. I never really learned how to maintain my own home – I never really learned those skills – I never learned how to budget. I was pretty socially inept at looking after myself, and I guess the program gave me the skills I needed…
Really, really frightening. I guess the scariest thing about it was being so alone – that feeling of no-one loves me. I haven’t even got my parents. A really strange feeling…
I had a – I still have – a worker from Towards Home that has been in my corner for a couple of years now – and she had suggested this program before and we discussed it, but we had never gone ahead with an application because the timing wasn’t right – I wasn’t ready. I probably wouldn’t have succeeded if I had applied for the program sooner that when I did. When I actually did apply for the program I was ready. I was ready to change and I was pretty much over living the way that I had been and just accepting it…
I wasn’t living man – I was existing. I was existing in my own surroundings, I wasn’t living in them. To say I was existing – I’m living now – I’m lit – no like I’m drunk - but I’ve got some zest for life. I’ve got better in my life, and I’ve got better in my day – and that’s on a day-to-day basis. I’m consistently getting better, and now I’ve realised with the effort I am putting into myself, I’m the one who reaps the rewards…
You’re going to get as much out of the program as you put in. When I first came to do the program – I was working with Penny, and it was the day after I moved in – I had already been accepted – I rang Penny – I was out somewhere in the city or something – and I rang her and said that it’s really dawned on me what is available to me, and I remember the conversation we had – I’ve got an opportunity to change my life. I said that I see a lot of people in the program that don’t know what’s on offer, and I said I’m excited and that I’m going to get everything that’s on offer to me here. And I meant it, and I did. I more than came half-way to the party. When I needed to show up for myself I turned up early and I stayed late…
It's all there. All you’ve got to do is meet them half-way. It’s a very, very simple program. You choose what you get out of it. For me, I was done with having nothing, and not just having nothing in a material sense, but being on the merry-go-round – continually going around and around in circles. But you come here and you acquire those skills to get off that merry-go-round and keep moving forward – it’s gold. 18 karat gold…
I’m not an overly egotistical person – I am sure of myself, but I’m not overly confident, and I back myself. But I had given up on myself for a long time – I had given up on better for myself. There were a lot of people in my life that wanted better for me, but I didn’t want it for myself. I now get better, and continue to get better every day, man…
So I actually want to get a job. I hadn’t wanted to get a job for over 10 years. I’m now having moments when I sit back and I have all this time on my hands and I’m scratching my head and thinking that I wouldn’t mind going out with the boys and doing this, this, and this but I can’t do it because I don’t have the money so to say. And there are moments when I say why not? Why not shop yourself and get a job – it’s not beyond me and I’m not incapable. I got the monkey off my back about 11 months ago – roughly to the day 11 months ago somehow I got this monkey off my back…
Don’t sell yourself short. Believe in yourself. If you only believed in yourself - believe in something, it’s true. You’ve signed it, and it’s delivered. If you believe in something, you know it’s going to come to fruition. Believe in yourself, people."
The End