Carolyn finds ‘family’ at her new Salvation Army home
Carolyn (top) prays over her son, David, during his dedication ceremony at The Salvation Army Campsie Corps. (Photo supplied by Carolyn.)
I went for a walk and I saw the sign – “The Salvation Army” – and I went there and I cried because I felt so ashamed. – Carolyn
Ten years ago, Carolyn found herself walking the streets of Maroubra, homeless and seven months pregnant. A year earlier, her husband had been killed in a car accident and her unexpected pregnancy a few months later had thrown her life into chaos.
She had no home, no money and with her family in New Zealand, she had very little support. She knew her life needed to change. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to give this baby a home’.”
Carolyn was offered accommodation at Orana Lodge, a Salvation Army hostel for homeless women. She stayed for eight months, giving birth to her son, David, and receiving counselling and other support as she adjusted to becoming a mother while working through the hurts of her past.
“It was a really hard time,” Carolyn remembers.
When she was ready to live independently, The Salvation Army helped Carolyn secure a place to live in Campsie, in south-west Sydney, through community housing. She then connected with the local Salvation Army church.
“I wanted to give David a good beginning,” she says. “It started through The Salvation Army playgroup, then we went to church.”
Through her connection with The Salvation Army, Carolyn has made some close friendships. It has also led to some profound changes in her life.
“I said to Centrelink: ‘I do not want to be one of those people who look at the paper to cross my name off the list. I’m going to get a job,” she says. “I always wanted to be a teacher … but I never followed it through.”
Recently, Carolyn completed a number of child-care courses and now has employment at a local day-care centre. She is working in a casual position but is determined to get secure employment so that she can become independent and not rely on government welfare support.
“It feels really good!” Carolyn says of fulfilling her life-long dream.
“I think what I’ve been through and what I’m going through personally now, I think it’s trying to make me a better person and learn from my mistakes. Because we all make them [mistakes], we’re all human and if we don’t learn we keep repeating it … so now I’m trying to break that cycle.”
Carolyn says the highlight of the last 10 years was David’s dedication at The Salvation Army Campsie Corps. Her family travelled from New Zealand to attend and David’s father also took part in the ceremony. It was a time for Carolyn to publicly thank God for the gift of David and the transformation of her life.
“It meant the world to me,” she says. “I’d been told that I’d never have children and David was a gift from God.”
Carolyn says she wouldn’t be where she is without the love and support of The Salvation Army.
“They’re fantastic,” she says. “They are my family.”
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