Kirstie's story

While Hannah Montana may have been a source of inspiration for a generation of Tween girls, a conversation between Hannah and Dolly Parton that Kirstie overheard while her daughter was watching the TV turned into a life defining moment.

Seven years prior, Kirstie was sitting at home looking at a pamphlet calling for people who were interested in running programs promoting health and wellbeing. She was living in Wendouree West with her two young children, she had moved there from Melbourne to get away from a bad relationship, she was having to choose between buying new shoes for her kids or paying the electricity bill, and a real treat was when she was given change from her food stamp that allowed her to catch a bus back home rather than walking five kilometres with two children in a pram.

It’s fair to say that life wasn’t working out as she had planned.

"I was the eldest grandchild, and was meant to be the prodigy child. I was doing advanced education and was meant to go on and do all of these amazing things. But having a child at 16 wasn’t part of the plan. I was sitting in my house in Wendouree West and was thinking ‘well this is it’. And I was sad and disappointed that I hadn’t reached not only my family’s expectations, but what I had wanted to do".

Her best friend was applying for one of the positions in the pamplet, and after much cajoling Kirstie agreed to apply too but only to support her friend. As it turned out they both got the positions, and as Kirstie says

"It was pretty much the start of good things to come."

The position was with Wendouree Wellbeing and was part of the State Government’s Neighbourhood Renewal program, which offers training and opportunities to people living in disadvantaged areas around Victoria.

For Kirstie this meant that she undertook a Certificate IV in Community Service, and later a Bachelor of Communications. She was working with the local community, providing programs such as exercise and cooking classes. She says that it is social interaction and the sense of belonging that is really important.

The Hannah Montana moment came when she was trying to decide whether to apply for her Manager’s position when he left. While she believed that she now had the skills and ability to do the job, she wasn’t sure if other people would also share that belief. But when Dolly Parton told Hannah Montana that ‘The only way to really lose is to not be in the race in the first place’, she knew that she had to apply for the job.

She got it, and hasn’t looked back.

"I’m now in a stable relationship. We’re looking to buy a house. I have savings. My life’s how a life should be. This is how I pictured my life. I now have the skills to earn an income, and to make a difference. Sometimes I think that Neighbourhood Renewal changed my life, but really it gave me an opportunity that I took."