Emma Jacobson is just 20-years-old, but she has already had to cope with being homeless.
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Two years ago, Emma was living in a house in Casino with her mum, brother and sister when her mum died unexpectedly of ischemic heart disease. What had so far been a "normal life" abruptly came to an end.
The siblings couldn't afford to pay the rent so they had to move out a week after her mum died. As a result, the family split up.
Emma had been mostly couch surfing ever since, and described this period of her life as traumatic. She became suicidal and couldn't see a future without her mum.
"We were like two peas in a pod," Emma said of her relationship with her mum. "We went everywhere together.
"I remember two weeks before she passed away, I was sitting in the kitchen and I said to her, 'I can't lose you, you're the last thing I've got'. I couldn't even think about what I would be doing next. And then ... it happened," Emma said.
"I screamed, I threw up, I blacked out for like 20 minutes. I don't think I stopped crying for two weeks straight."
She said being able to stay with her siblings would have made the grieving process easier, "but it just didn't happen".
With the help of a youth rental program, the future was looking brighter for Emma.
When she went to Centrelink to ask for financial help, the person at the counter asked if Emma had somewhere to sleep that night. She didn't, so they referred her to Social Futures.
Emma has been in Social Futures transitional housing for 12 months but next week, she gets the keys to her own apartment. She is working and will also be supported through the Rent Choice Youth Program.
"If it wasn't for Social Futures, I think I'd still be on the streets or couch surfing."
Social Futures delivers the Connecting Home Youth Program, funded by Homes NSW, which supports young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Social Futures Program Manager, Lucie White said generous government subsidies were available to help young people sustain rental tenancies, while they worked towards the goal of establishing an income to afford ongoing rent.
"These subsidies help young people stabilise their lives, without the daily pressures of homelessness, and the government subsidy is an assurance to agents and landlords that the rent will always be paid," she said.
April 17 marked Youth Homelessness Matters Day, and Emma's story highlighted the difficulties faced by young people trying to find somewhere to live.
There were 122,494 people experiencing homelessness on census night in 2021.
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) were aged 12 to 24, with another 14.4 per cent under the age of 12.
Based on the figures, more than 43,000 Australian children and young people could be without a home each night.
Lucie said young people have been hard hit by soaring rents and low vacancy rates - and frequently face discrimination.
"Young people, due to their young age, have a limited work history and often no previous rental experience," Lucie said.
Social Futures is calling on Northern Rivers real estate agents and landlords to give young renters a fair go - given 19-to-24-year-olds now have the highest rate of homelessness in Australia.
"More often than not, landlords would prefer not to rent their properties to a young person. This obviously makes young people very vulnerable to homelessness.
"But all young people need is a chance to prove they are capable, sadly too many just can't get their foot in the door of a rental."
Andrew Gordon, from R Gordon & Son Property Agents has four tenancies with young people using the Rent Choice Youth subsidy and encourages other landlords and estate agents to give young people a chance.
"As a community we have an obligation to nurture our next generation. As a business community we rely on the next generation staying in our region, to become our staff, and often become employers themselves. And unless we provide the opportunity to stay in our regional areas, they will go," Andrew said.
"It's that good old Aussie adage of a fair go. And often it's just that first step these young people need. Given the chance, and the opportunity, they will flourish."
