Hi, my name is Ruby and I’m a 24 years old care experienced young person. I first entered out-of-home care at nine years old and lived in multiple placements including kinship care, foster care and residential care until I was seventeen years old. During this time I couldn’t see a life for myself beyond being in care.

This also meant I never thought I’d get the chance to go overseas, while I always dreamed of studying abroad or traveling with friends it just never seemed possible (I didn’t even have my passport until recently). I remember when I was in residential care signing up with a working holiday agency because I wanted to see the world, specifically New York City and maybe escape my own reality. Pretty quickly this dream got pushed to the side as I transitioned to independent living and later becoming homeless. I became determined to finish high school and go to university so I could become a journalist. It became my driving force. But the dream of traveling overseas was always there, in the clothes I wore or the decorations I had in my first home after leaving out-of-home care. I started focusing on advocating for children and young people across Australia and volunteering on youth programs while completing my Bachelor degree.

As I got closer to graduating university the question of “what next” became so loud. I realised that while journalism wasn’t for me, my passion for advocacy and mentoring children and young people became my everything. But something was still missing, I started thinking about how amazing it would be to do a cultural exchange by working with children and young people at a summer camp in the USA, but I made excuses as to why I couldn’t do it. Until eventually I stopped making excuses and realised this was part of the next chapter of my life, my chance to not only do something I love (working with children and young people) but also allow a dream to become a reality.

I started the process in October 2025, I got my passport, researched the different agencies and started looking at the different camps. It was a long process and many early morning interviews, until eventually in December I attended an in person hiring fair in Sydney and got hired by a summer camp in upstate New York as a radio specialist. I will be working at the summer camp for 8 weeks and then traveling for 30 days with the friends I make over the summer. I get to meet people from all over the world and grow as a person in ways I have yet to experience, which is so surreal and amazing.

However, the problem I have is the financial side of things. I don’t have support from family and despite trying to find a job, I have been jobless since December. I’ve already paid for my agency fees, J-1 visa, travel insurance and flights but due to things in my life being out of my control I need help, because I don’t want this opportunity to be over shadowed by not having enough money while I’m there.

Currently the AUD to USD exchange rate is $1 AUD = $0.7168 USD. Because of this I’m trying to save as much as possible so I can be comfortable during the 3 months I’m in the USA. 

What your donation cover:

- Domestic flights within the USA 

- Accommodation 

- Food & Essentials 

- Emergency 

Any support puts me one step closer to allowing my dreams to come true.