Regular Giving through Team180 - Help more young people get the vital support they need in the critical 180 days after leaving rehab.

Kids who enter rehab have a vision for a better future. They courageously chose to do the hard work to get well, but the days after leaving rehab can be truly confronting.

It’s a time filled with challenges to a young person’s willpower, self-confidence, hope and sobriety. It’s a time when lives can be lost. 

No young person should have to face those days alone.

When you join Team180 you’ll help ensure more young people have the lifesaving support of an Aftercare Worker in the critical 180 days after leaving rehab.

With an Aftercare Worker by their side, young people receive the flexible, tailored support they need to stay well, build the foundations for their new future, and turn their lives around.

Trained specialists, Aftercare Workers act as cheerleaders, mentors, guides and mates. They help young people navigate the next chapter of their lives, establish healthy new relationships, re-engage in education or employment, and develop tools to cope with life’s challenges, without harmful drug or alcohol use.

Your regular gifts will help us grow our Youth Network and provide more young people with the vital support of an Aftercare Worker, that could change – or even save – their life during this challenging stage of recovery.

Do something important today.

Bailey was a gregarious, cheeky kid, but as he grew up he developed debilitating anxiety. He was often unable to cope with the challenges that life threw at him, including the breakdown of his parents’ relationship.

By the age of 15, Bailey had started using drugs to self-medicate. Sadly, a father figure in his life introduced him to heroin.

It was the beginning of a downward spiral that led him to homelessness. “My addiction took everything from me, it changed who I was,” says Bailey.

By the time he was 20, Bailey knew he had to make a change and courageously decided to enter rehab.

Through detox and residential rehab, Bailey got well and began to find himself again. However, leaving the safe environment of rehab scared him. “In residential rehab you get comfortable with all the supports and the people around you, but then you go and face life outside and you’re back in that world – the drugs are there, the old people, everything’s still there,” he says. “I was worried that I’d get sucked back into my old life.”

Bailey had the tailored, flexible support of Todd, a trained Aftercare worker, who was able to help him navigate the first critical 180 days after leaving rehab. Todd was a consistent, trusted source of support and guidance for Bailey. He helped Bailey enrol in a Cert IV in Youth Work at TAFE, set up his new home and develop skills to help cope with the challenges he’d face – without drugs and alcohol.

“Having an Aftercare Worker helps to lift the burden,” says Bailey. “Todd is someone I can say anything to. He makes me feel special and accepted, and cared for.”

Now, Bailey is thriving. Studying hard, Bailey is enjoying a happy, healthy relationship with his mum and sister and pursuing his passion for music. Last year he was excited to record a rap album – something he admits he could never have done while still using drugs.

Bailey has a simple message for anyone considering joining Team180.

“The support from an Aftercare Worker is pivotal. When you join Team180, you’ll definitely be helping more people like me.”