A refurbished home for Jessica
TOOWOOMBA senior Jessica Krant wants to study bio-medicine at university, but until two months ago she didn’t have a roof over her head.
Now the 18-year-old can focus on graduating high school after moving into the YWCA’s emergency accommodation units in East Toowoomba.
The not-for-profit organisation celebrated the reopening of the Betty Willis Wing earlier this week, thanks to $70,000 in donations and in-kind support from the community.
Ms Krant, who was forced from her previous situation after she became an adult and didn’t have family to turn to, said the YWCA’s new facilities made her feel at home.
“I was in residential care and then I was asked to move because I’m nearly 18,” she said.
“I came up here (to the wing) in March (before the refurb) and and it was totally different – it was not nice.
“Now it’s just a whole new atmosphere – we have a dining room table that we’ve been having dinners at.
“With the new kitchen, we’ve been cooking meals together. It’s like we’re a family.”
YWCA community services manager Kylie Elisaia said the refurbishment was desperately needed, nine years after the wing was built.
“The women would come in from somewhere where there’s no one that cares about them, and they were coming into somewhere that said that as well,” she said. “Now it shows that they are cared for.” But Ms Krant said it was the organisation that was responsible for her situation.
“Without the support of Kylie here, I don’t think I would have made it this far,” she said.