Sweet relief: ‘I can’t imagine life without it.’

It’s been nearly two years since the South Australian Minister for Human Services, Nat Cook, paid a visit to Margo’s home in the Barossa Valley. She was there to help celebrate the handover of a two-bedroom studio built in Margo’s backyard.

The build was funded by the South Australian Government in partnership with Foundation Barossa and delivered by Kids Under Cover. It was the fifth Kids Under Cover studio built in South Australia in the early days of our expansion across the border.

There are now 18 Kids Under Cover studios on the ground across the state, with a further 24 under development. The aim is to have 42 one and two-bedroom studios delivered in South Australia by the end of the year. That’s on top of over 600 in Victoria housing around 1000 young people every night.

Margo’s studio is home to two of her four great grandsons. The boys moved in with Margo after experiencing a number of complex challenges at home. The limited space inside Margo’s self-described three-bedroom ‘shoebox’ had one boy sleeping in the lounge and the youngest sharing a room with Margo.

“That’s no fun for a young boy,’ Margo says. ‘I mean, we try to find fun in everything, so we’d laugh about it, but it really was a difficult time for us all.”

At times, tensions escalated and there was often conflict between the brothers. With no space to move and nowhere to hide it was only a matter of time before one of the boys would consider other, less stable living options.

But now it’s a very different picture.

The two boys in the studio are studying Year 9 and Year 11, the eldest is intent on taking up an electrical apprenticeship when he finishes Year 12. Margo says there’s a lot less fighting between the boys and that the space has been great for helping develop their independence.

“The reality of basic living skills can be brought home quite harshly sometimes. And just to know that they know how to fend for themselves now is great,” she says. “The guy who came to check up on maintenance recently told me he’d never seen a teenager’s room so tidy!”

The other great advantage for Margo is the fact the boys are still with her. They have a room to go to but she can feel comfortable knowing they’re not far away.

“If any of them were to go out on their own I’d be really worried about them. The boys are only just realising now about how hard it is out there. This is what they needed. They needed somewhere where they could shut everybody else out and just chill out in their own space.

“And it’s given me a bit of space to myself. Through the day I’ve got the house to myself and it’s wonderful. It’s helped me a great deal.”