Help a family that’s homeless have a home… and a new beginning

Hayley’s* family lived for six months in their car with their two young children, all while Hayley was pregnant.

Hayley and Cam had been renting their small two-bedroom unit for two years — together with their children, four-year-old Carter and baby Leo.

Then everything came crashing down.

First, their landlord raised their rent. An increase that came at a time when rising food, fuel and energy prices were already hurting them.

Then a few months later… another rent hike. Then another! Effectively doubling their rent in the space of a year.

Hayley said...

“Then they gave us notice to leave… And we found out we were expecting a new baby, so we were looking for something bigger, and we just couldn’t find it!”

“We packed our camping gear and clothes into the car and left. We drove around for six months, just trying to live, usually at campsites or beaches. And the whole time we were homeless, I was pregnant. It was very, very overwhelming.”

We’re hearing stories like Hayley’s all the time right now.

According to the latest estimates, 32,232 people are currently homeless in Australia because of the housing crisis.

But when Hayley and Cam came to the Salvos, it changed everything.

Hayley shared…

“The Salvation Army were amazing. They helped us in ways I can’t even explain. Financially, with food and petrol, with clothes, with our mental health, and with help finding a home. We got it just in time – three weeks before I gave birth!”

Your Red Shield support can help another family like Hayley’s have a home – and the new beginning they desperately need.

Please donate to the 2024 Red Shield Appeal today.

_{*To protect Hayley’s privacy, her name and some details of her story have been changed.}

. Fewer than 3% of rental properties in Australia are affordable for families like Naomi’s at the moment...

Tragically, more than 60% of all people who are homeless in Australia are women. And more than 90,000 of them are single parents, like Naomi.

With your Red Shield Appeal gift, you can help provide people like Naomi with the hope and support they need to find secure housing and get their life back on track.

It was compassionate people like you, through a gift to the Salvos, who gave Naomi hope for a better life for her children.

She said,

“When I heard we had a home, I was just so overwhelmed and so relieved. I can’t even explain the gratitude I feel. For the first time in so many years, I can heal, I can breathe, and I can work to create a better future for myself and my children.”

Your Red Shield Appeal support will help give another mum like Naomi and her children hope for a safe, stable and secure home.

Please donate to the 2025 Red Shield Appeal today.

*To protect Naomi’s privacy, her name and some details of her story have been changed.