From couch surfing to being in the driver's seat

8 Aug 2024

When Debbie was admitted to hospital for addiction and mental ill health in 2020, she didn’t realise it would be a turning point in a life of couch surfing and homelessness. But with the support of the team at St John of God Casa Venegas in Sydney, she was able to change everything.

“I first encountered Casa Venegas when I was in hospital – I have bipolar,” says Debbie. “I’d been couch surfing, but the friend I’d been living with moved away. That’s when my support worker put me in touch with Niki and the team at Casa Venegas. And I’m so grateful.”

Niki Alexopoulos is a manager at Casa Venegas, providing transitional homes and support for people stuck in a spiral of homelessness and deteriorating mental wellbeing. She says people experiencing or at risk of homelessness face a host of practical, financial and health-related barriers to being able to regain control over their lives.

Niki explains, “Most people don’t understand. It’s not just a case of picking yourself up and getting your life together. You're constantly in survival mode: week to week, day to day, even hour to hour. You get stuck in a loop, couch surfing, in and out of hospital, and on and on. There’s no respite.”

Debbie agrees. “When you don’t have a home and don’t know where you’ll be sleeping next week, or tomorrow, or tonight, you don't eat properly, you don't sleep properly. You're emotionally wrecked. And then there’s Centrelink. You're meant to be looking for jobs, but how can you when you can't even afford the train ticket or bus fare to get there, let alone pay for soap to wash yourself?”

Niki adds, “In any case, the Newstart Allowance isn’t enough, especially here in Sydney. And even if extra support is available, after years of being trodden down due to the circumstances you find yourself in – and are unable to get out of – people often feel like they’re not worthy of the support.

“That was the first hurdle we had to help Debbie overcome: not just trying to get her a home or financial support but convincing her she was actually worthy of it.”

Debbie had never had her own home and had grown up in an abusive environment. She says, “That was a big thing because I come from a family of generational abuse. In my family, you didn't deserve anything. To escape that feeling – to get out from under that – is hard.

“I think a lot of people who are homeless come from substance-abuse families and domestic violence. We don't know how to live ‘normally’ because we've never been in that situation. And then when someone puts you in a normal situation, you're freaked out: what am I meant to do?!

“That’s why I'm so grateful to Niki and the crew at Casa Venegas. They've given me my life.”

The leadership team at Casa Venegas assigned a dedicated support worker to Debbie, but there’s a whole team working behind the scenes at Casa Venegas providing holistic support for every client. It’s a circuit breaker for people struggling with mental health issues exacerbated by, or resulting from, homelessness.

In addition to a home they can call their own for anything from six to 24 months, Casa Venegas helps each client get the financial, practical, medical and psychological support they need, so they can develop their life skills, build their confidence and set goals for the future.

“After I was assessed and accepted by Casa Venegas, they gave me one of their houses. A lovely house, newly furnished and renovated,” says Debbie. “It was the first time I'd ever had my own home, which was a bit daunting to start with.

“The first few nights, I didn't really know what to do with myself. But once I got over the initial shock, it was great. I was independent but also had support just a call away: to go shopping, to get to appointments, things I needed to do. Then you realise you can do this.”

The team at Casa Venegas has been there throughout Debbie’s journey and has seen how she has grown.  Niki recalls, “I remember Debbie standing outside her first house saying, I don't think I deserve this, such a nice place. And I said, you deserve this and so much more. You deserve your own place, and you'll get that one day.”

With the help of the Casa Venegas team, Debbie started taking on more responsibility for her health, wellbeing and financial situation and eventually secured her own home.

“I got to the point where I felt ready to get my own place,” says Debbie. “And like I said, I've got all this support behind me, so if I was going to fall flat on my face then I'd have plenty of people to pick me up and help me out.

“The Casa Venegas team helped me get a Department of Housing house. There’s a lot of red tape to navigate, but they got me on the priority list. And that's where I am now: my own little place.”

Today, over a year on, Debbie feels safe and secure in her own home and she’s putting her life back together. She says, “I'm planning to go back to work. It's been about six years since I've worked. That's my goal.”

What would Debbie say to someone who’s in a similar position to the one she was in, couch surfing and caught in a cycle of homelessness and mental ill health?

“It’s difficult to ask for help, especially for people with mental illness, because we get a bit scared,” says Debbie. “Maybe we’ve been abused if we asked for help before, or manipulated in some way to do something that we didn't want to do. That's why a lot of people with mental illness don't ask for help.

“But I'd say, don't give up. Reach out. You’ll find your journey a lot easier with support.”

For more information about St John of God Casa Venegas, visit www.sjog.org.au/casavenegas