Marion and her partner Damon moved to the Mornington Peninsula from Queensland and not long afterwards, started a family.  Damon's job was fairly demanding in terms of time and travel, but they managed with the help of Marion's mother, who travelled over from Queensland at regular intervals to help out.

This help was even more essential when a second baby arrived within two years of the first one. Six weeks before the third child was due, and the day before she was due to travel to Mornington, Marion's mother collapsed and died.  Marion was devastated and went into premature labour.

Grieving for her mother, trying to manage without her help with the older children, and needing to minister to the needs of a sickly, premature baby, brought Marion to the brink of collapse.  In desperation she rang OzChild and within a week, a volunteer was coming to her home each morning to take the children to school.  The children enjoyed the volunteer's company and loved travelling to school in a "posh" car.  The volunteer was also able to regularly check on how Marion was coping and provide some emotional support as she worked through her grief. As Marion put it, "she was the light in our lives".

After six months family life had settled down, Marion had been able to organise sharing the school run with another parent and she had made new friends through a mother's group that the volunteer had encouraged her to join.

Read more about our Family Support Program.