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Lived Experience Real Stories

Homelessness or housing insecurity can happen to anyone

The stories of homelessness

Unless you have experienced it first hand, it is hard to really understand what it is like to experience homelessness or housing insecurity. Some amazing people have shared their own experiences, in the hope that it will give an insight into how easily homelessness can become a reality.

Lana Moon is using her lived experience of homelessness to advocate for changes to the system, a system that often fails to see people in adversity as human beings with intersectional needs and which treats many people as lost causes. Lana is contributing to the HOME Project with Shelter WA.

Homelessness affects people from all walks of life, including many who are employed. As a contributor of the HOME Project with Shelter WA, Affinee hopes to challenge our preconceptions, reduce stigma, and foster empathy. She believes that whilst we can’t solve the housing crisis alone, we can make a meaningful difference in a person’s experience.

Alicia Keenan has experienced a form of homelessness that impacts a lot of younger people. Sleeping on friend’s couches can be a better option than being at home, but it doesn’t give security and control over your situation. We all deserve to have housing that lets us live our lives to the fullest.

Anthea has found herself again in her art after an act of kindness when she was living rough. For Anthea, art is culture and culture is diverse. People who are homeless have talents and gifts but this isn’t recognised by people walking past who judge and don’t understand. If people showed kindness, it can change lives.

Bec’s Story

Maria’s Story

Beatrice’s Story

Chris’ Story

Jasmine’s Story

Lived Experience Stories

One element of Homelessness Week 2024 that really stood out was the launch of a series of advocacy videos made by some of the participants in the HOME project, as well as one young person from the Youth Homelessness Advisory Council (YHAC). This advocacy project was a great opportunity to utilise the skills we learned in the Safe Storytelling workshops, which were delivered by Centre for Stories.

Some of the HOME Project participants worked with facilitator Kathy Greenwood to write, develop and film their stories of homelessness, with a strong focus on advocacy and a ‘call to action’. Once the scripts were written, edited and completed, we spent a day of filming with Michael and the team at Inception Video, who supported everyone to bring their stories to life.

The result was a number of incredibly powerful videos that aim to highlight some of the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness and raise awareness about what can be done to help. You can watch each of the stories below.

This advocacy project was also valuable capacity building for our HOME Project Co-Design team. They have built on their training in safe storytelling and learned some skills in media and advocacy messaging. A couple of the video creators were then interviewed for TV news programs, extending their message further. This will be very important learning for the development of our Communications Bureau, one of the deliverables for the HOME Project.

Shelter WA and the HOME Project thank Lotterywest for their support of our Homelessness Week 2024 activities, including this advocacy project. The HOME Project is funded by the Sisters of St John of God.

© 2026 Shelter WA. All rights reserved. ABN 43 436 576 540. Shelter WA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their ongoing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to the Elders past and present and emerging. We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and our recognition and acceptance of your invitation to walk with you towards a movement of the Australian people for a better future.
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