‘Too scared to sleep, she drives back to the suburb she grew up in’, tells face of Catherine House

There’s an emerging ‘invisible’ face of homelessness for Adelaide women with jobs. Their stories are sobering.

By her own admission, Adelaide’s Jaylee Cooper ought to have been shocked when a woman quietly disclosed how she spends her nights terrified, sleeping in her car at suburban Prospect – she wasn’t.

Sadly, the manager of philanthropy and engagement at women’s homelessness and recovery service, Catherine House, knows only too well the grim circumstances facing so many in 2025.

“You know, she told me each night she was absolutely scared and frightened to be sleeping in her car but that she would go back to the suburb she grew up in as she felt a level of safety in a place that was familiar to her,” Ms Cooper said.

“Now, most people that live in (inner, leafy) suburbs such as Prospect probably wouldn’t ever think they would see a woman experiencing homelessness in their car in their neighbourhood.

Catherine House philanthropy and engagement manager Jaylee Cooper. Picture: Dean Martin

Catherine House says many women experiencing homelessness are sleeping in cars on streets all over Adelaide. Picture: File

“The reality is there are many, many women who are now experiencing homelessness and sleeping in cars on streets all over Adelaide … and it’s likely we will start to see it more as the cost-of-living crisis and lack of affordable housing is hitting hard.”

Ms Cooper, speaking ahead of the launch of the annual The Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal, says “more and more” women are reaching out for help.

“The reality is that (our intake service) line just continues to be called all day, every day by women seeking support,” she said, adding it doesn’t account for those hesitant to call.

“In the past 12 months we’ve seen a 36 per cent increase in the number of women contacting us for support which is significant … at any given time we’ve between 35 and 55 women on our waitlist.

“For many of the women who do reach out, they will have exhausted every avenue before doing so … it’s difficult to ask for help … there’s such shame that we feel.”

Almost 50 per cent of the women who make contact are aged between 35 and 54 with almost all of those escaping family and domestic violence and many more recently separated from their spouse.

Almost 40 per cent of women are aged between 18 and 34 with just over 10 per cent aged 55 and older.

“We often refer to it as being like the domino effect, it can be just that one thing that potentially starts (the downward spiral into homelessness) … an illness, a marriage breakdown or a redundancy,” Ms Cooper said.

“It might be they lose their employment and then can’t pay their rent so they lose their tenancy … for many women often the next step is to see if they can stay with friends or family and that’s where couch-surfing comes into play and then it’s often going into cars.

“We hear from women who say, ‘my landlord’s just been in contact, they need to sell their property’ … we know affordable rental availability is a real issue; certainly, our clients are not in the financial position to go out and pay market rent and that is a real challenge.

“It’s the cost of groceries, the cost of electricity, gas and petrol … all of those things are contributing to people just not having the money they previously would have had.”

The lack of affordable housing is forcing more women into homelessness, charity workers say. Picture: File

The fact women are typically more likely to be part of the casualised workforce – working in casual and part-times across sectors such as retail, early childhood, healthcare and hospitality – can make them more vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures.

“We are certainly seeing more women who are employed… they will leave our crisis accommodation service and go off to work – most of their employers probably wouldn’t have any clue,” Ms Cooper said.

“(Homelessness) really can happen to anyone and we want women to know there is a place called Catherine House in South Australia that they can come to, should they need our support.”

Originally published as ‘Too scared to sleep, she drives back to the suburb she grew up in’, tells face of Catherine House