00:00So I got removed from home when I was about 11 and I was a state ward by the age of 13.
00:09I then went from 13 for the next 12 years or so on a drug-fuelled adventure that I could
00:17only tell you bits and pieces of because I can hardly remember any of it.
00:21So the Street to Home program is a program where we support about 40 to 50 companions
00:27at a time.
00:28These are companions that are either homeless or at risk of homelessness in the ACT.
00:32This is lovely J-Mo, our first companion that I've helped with accommodation that's made
00:37me a coffee.
00:38This is quite a nice moment.
00:39Really?
00:40Thank you so much.
00:41To be honest, you're the first person that I've made a coffee for in my new place, so
00:46great.
00:47I'm glad it could be you.
00:48When I came out here I was stoked because it's a freestanding place and I can call it
00:55I've got my own and hopefully soon I'll be able to have my kids over and start living
01:02life as you should live life.
01:05The process took around, I'd say around four years, even though I was on high needs and
01:10then on priority, Ben's been with me through most of that time.
01:16With cost of living and rentals increasing and JobSeeker and Newstart not increasing
01:20at the same rate, it's becoming more and more difficult to support those companions.
01:25It makes it incredibly difficult because the more people you've got applying for public
01:28housing, the longer the waiting list is going to be.
01:32Society, I think, needs to look at it as it's a rising issue and in a place like Australia,
01:38so wealthy and so vast, we shouldn't have people on the street.
01:44If I could, I'd advocate and lobby the government to build more refuges because there is absolutely
01:51nothing available for people that are on the street doing it hard.
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