Sherrie has converted her dining room into a make-shift bedroom, with a nice warm floor rug, so her children can each have their their own room and privacy.
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She never complains - something she said has surprised her housing support worker - but for Sherrie the two-bedroom unit with her children was far better than being on the streets alone.
Sherrie has shared her lived experience of homelessness to let people know it does not hurt to ask for help.
This was a lesson it took Sherrie a long time to realise but, knowing there could be "light at the end of the tunnel", she helped Central Highlands Homelessness Alliance to launch Homelessness Week.
Sherrie's story is one of many being shared in an exhibition and events based at Ballarat Trades Hall.
Sherrie had become stuck in a cycle of insecure housing, entering her first refuge at Lisa Lodge (now Berry Street) aged 16 when fleeing family violence. Sherrie had to share a room with two adults.
In the next 15 years, Sherrie was trapped in a cycle of homelessness when becoming a single mother, and was unable to secure a private rental before turning to drug dealing as a means to make ends meet. She thought she would not get caught.
She lost her children, her belongings, her car, her home and her freedom with three stints in jail.
"I want to let people know they don't have to do it alone - it does not hurt to ask for help."
- - Sherrie.
Housing had become a mix of squatting in a share unit or, when she had her car, sleeping in her vehicle, often at truck stops. Her distinctive car and previous occupation made finding a place to sleep often a precarious and dangerous situation.
Police pointed Sherrie in the direction of help to become clean and do everything she needed to get her children back before they entered permanent care.
The only hurdle left was to find secure housing.
Sherrie found help through a Uniting housing support worker and has been living with her children in a two-bedroom unit the past year. They remain on a wait list for a three-bedroom place.
"I want to let people know they don't have to do it alone - it does not hurt to ask for help," Sherrie said. "My biggest problem is I thought I could do it on my own. I was the person who was always trying to help everyone else but I was not helping myself.
"I want people to know there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it can get. There is always support."
IN OTHER NEWS
Eureka MP Michaela Settle, speaking at the CHHA Homelessness Week launch, called for the community to humanise the issue.
Ms Settle said everyone could be one job loss, one break-up away from experiencing homelessness or insecure housing, especially given the businesses that have been lost during the pandemic and now amid the rising cost of living crisis.
For Ms Settle, her own close call with homelessness as a single mother moving to Ballarat with no money was "luck of the draw". She had parents who could offer financial support to get her through.
Ms Settle said while the Victorian government was committed to a string of programs to promote affordable housing options, she wanted people experiencing homelessness to be recognised as "fellow travellers, fellow human beings" who deserved the dignity of safe and secure housing.
Uniting Ballarat has about 220 people aged 25-plus on its priority housing list, which is the highest rate in 15 years.
A further 62 under-25s are on the list of which about half are couples or families with children.
Uniting was also aware of 75 people sleeping rough, three with young children.
CHHA chairmanager Jerry Ham, who also leads Uniting Vic.Tas' housing and crisis support, said Homelessness Week was about trying to reach a wider audience, particularly those who might not know how to best offer support.
Mr Ham said homelessness was "not about them" but "about us" as an issue.
CHHA events will also feature a lived experience panel on Wednesday at 2pm, a panel discussion on crisis work on Thursday at 2pm and a talk about homelessness across the ages on Friday at 11am at Ballarat Trades Hall.
The exhibition at Trades Hall runs all week and CHHA will also host an exhibition in Ararat on Friday.
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