Two steps from homelessness
After a violent partner broke the windows and doors of her rented home and punched holes in the walls, Michelle was blacklisted by real estate agents and couldn’t find accommodation for herself or her five children.
Michelle’s experience of becoming homeless is one of eight real-life stories featured in a new documentary, We are all just two steps from homelessness, commissioned by the South Queensland Council for Homeless Persons with funding from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.
Each person’s story in the documentary is different but their circumstances lead to the same outcome - homelessness. We can learn from their experiences as they each offer insights into what helped them and the barriers they faced finding a home.
Many of us have firsthand experience of the kinds of life events that lead to homelessness - family break-up, losing a job, having an illness and escaping violence. Such events often combine with a lack of affordable housing and a low income to put people at higher risk of becoming homeless.
In the documentary, a high school student leaves home to escape an abusive stepfather who cannot accept the youth’s sexuality. A failed business and a marriage breakdown cause a university student caring for her young son to lose her home. A married couple caring for an adult autistic son and a granddaughter are evicted from their home after they stop paying rent on a deteriorating building the landlord refuses to maintain.
If you have ever wondered where you would go or who you would turn to if you lost your home or if you know someone in that situation, the Department of Communities funds a statewide helpline connecting people with services that find the accommodation to best suit them.
Homeless Person's Information Queensland (HPIQ)
- Toll-free:
- 1800 47 47 53
- TTY Toll-free:
- 1800 010 222
View the documentary - We are all just two steps from homelessness