Nathangie's Journey, a new country, a new start.

Nathangie, resident at Harts Landing

Evolve Housing © 2018

RESIDENT'S STORY:

I GREW UP IN A FAMILY WHERE EDUCATION WAS CONSIDERED A VITAL THING FOR GETTING YOURSELF OUT OF HARDSHIP…

NETHANGIE’S JOURNEY, a new country, a new start

After moving to Australia with her mother, who had recently remarried, Nethangie experienced almost a decade of hardship, moving from house to house, until she settled in Harts Landing. Now with her living circumstances finally stable, Nethangie is free to pursue her passion for medical science without having to worry about the future.

Nethangie, who will turn 21 in December, moved to Sydney from Sri Lanka with her mother Ajanthie in 2009 when she was just 11 years old.

Despite the cultural barriers she faced, and the fact that she didn’t speak much English in Sri Lanka, Nethangie quickly mastered her new language and settled into school life with ease.

While Nethangie flourished in the classroom, her home life was marred by domestic violence, and in late 2011 her mother Ajanthie made the decision to leave an abusive relationship and move with her daughter into a women’s refuge in Doonside.

The next few years of Nethangie’s life were plagued with uncertainty and constant uprooting, as the family shuffled back and forth between the women’s refuge and the home Ajanthie jointly owned with her ex-partner.

After a stressful court case, the home was finally sold in 2013 and the pair moved into temporary affordable housing specifically for victims of domestic violence. While it was a relief to find a home, Nethangie said she struggled with the uncertainty of this period of her life.

“In terms of moving houses, my school was really helpful and mum had a really good caseworker, but it was just the uncertainty of things that made it difficult,” Nethangie said.

“I don’t cope with uncertainty well; I like things to be settled and to know what’s going to happen.”

After enduring so many moves in such a short amount of time, Nethangie and Ajanthie were again packing boxes in March 2014, shifting to a private rental property in Werrington using a government subsidy.

In the meantime, Nethangie was still attending her old school in Quakers Hill, doing well in her studies and desperate to not add another destabilising change to a life that was already so much in flux.

Nethangie finished her HSC a year later, and gained admission to Sydney University to study a Bachelor of Medical Science. However, the uncertainty of her family’s housing situation still troubled both her and her mother.

When they saw advertisements for Evolve’s new integrated housing development, Harts Landing, in early 2018 the timing was perfect: their landlord in Werrington had just attempted to raise their rent by a significant proportion per week.

Ajanthie’s rental application to Harts Landing was successful, and the family moved yet again, this time into a secure, affordable and newly built apartment building located in a lifestyle development right next to Penrith station…and they haven’t looked back. “It’s been good, especially having everything so close.”

“Having the Westfield shopping centre on the other side of train line is really good and being able to catch the Blue Mountains Line train to university also helps,” Nethangie said.

But while the accessibility, safety and location are all major factors that appealed to the family, Nethangie said her mum also enjoyed a more aesthetic aspect of their new home: being able to see the sunrise every day from their apartment tower.

Finally settled in affordable housing, Nethangie hopes to pursue medical research and medical activism, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, who moved upward from a poor childhood to being one of Sri Lanka’s top lecturers, and also worked in research.

“I grew up in a family where education was considered a vital thing for getting yourself out of hardship,” Nethangie said.

She recently gained admission to the Honours program at Westmead Kids Institute for 2019, and

will be conducting breakthrough research on maternal immune activation.

On top of her busy study schedule, Nethangie has also been an active contributor to the community, volunteering with the Australian Red Cross and other charitable organisations.

Although Nethangie’s success is entirely due to her hard work and perseverance, she also believes that having access to affordable housing has helped her and her mother stabilise their lives and focus on pursuing their personal goals.

“If there’s one less thing, like housing, that’s taken out of the equation then you don’t have to worry about that; you can put more effort into other things that can really change your life from what it used to be”.

I DON’T COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY WELL; I LIKE THINGS TO BE SETTLED AND TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.

Nathangie talking about her experience of settling in at Evolve's Harts Landing.

Evolve Housing © 2018