Overcoming a lifetime of homelessness and pain – Sean’s story

At the age of just 13, Sean was made a ward of the state. For much of his adult life, from the age of 16 to 44, Sean struggled with regular periods of homelessness including couch surfing and sleeping rough.

Today, at 45, Sean is an enthusiastic volunteer with The Salvation Army’s Streetlevel (homelessness support service) in Brisbane. When he found Streetlevel, he says that he found purpose and hope. This Homelessness Week 2023 (7-13 August), Sean shares his story to encourage others facing tough times.

Helping in the kitchen for community meals, helping with the mobile coffee van and serving in any other way he can, Sean feels an integral part of The Salvation Army’s Streetlevel – a service started in Brisbane in 2009 to support those living rough and/or disconnected from community. Streetlevel offers chapel/worship services, meals, referrals, social enterprises, community connection, and more.

Sean turned up at Streetlevel around a year ago to volunteer, invited by another volunteer, and says with a wide smile, “The rest is history. They can’t get rid of me. They literally can’t get rid of me. I just love helping people.” 

He was also surprised to be recommended by the Streetlevel team when some local accommodation became available and says that while struggles remain, he has more friends, faith, joy, security and hope, than he has ever had.

Homelessness and loss in early years

Sean’s parents divorced when he was around seven. His dad remarried and his mum struggled with serious health issues. Although he knew he was loved, he was hurt and angry and now also believes he also had ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), leading to impulsivity and inability to settle at any school.

Acting out, he says, “I started becoming a naughty kid at a young age, so around 8, 9, 10, I started running away from home, and started pinching money off family and stuff like that.”

His family tried to do everything they could to care but he was continually expelled from schools, in trouble and was eventually deemed uncontrollable.

Spiral into homelessness

Sean says, “I was 13 and a half and I became a ward of the state. I was supposed to be fostered out but that didn’t happen. I was actually discharged at 16 and then got a full Centrelink benefit, it was Social Security back then. I started getting into drugs and alcohol.

“I hung around with some wrong people who were a lot older than me. I had a 36-year-old bloke putting needles in my arms with speed in it and did some bad things, such as stealing cars and things like that. I have a long juvenile record!

“I started to become this street kid, hanging out with a lot of street people at the time. I think I got used to it. I got pretty street-smart from when I was young, and I’d go find spots and I could make cubby houses out of old sticks and stuff like that and find places to hide and sleep and sort of try and survive that way.

“In Tassie [Tasmania] I lived in a cave for three and a half months.”

With his dog Zac for company, Sean started an apprenticeship, and was helped by his family with housing, but through drug use and later alcohol use, sabotaged every opportunity.

Despite family who tried to support him, a range of good jobs, and one long term relationship, Sean’s struggles with addiction and, he believes, undiagnosed ADHD, left him unsettled and unstable through many stages of his life.

“I’ve been homeless in my cars, in the cars I’ve had, even on the streets when I haven’t had vehicles. I think I was obviously self-medicating and I definitely had some trauma there, which I’m still dealing with today.”

Rock bottom and way up

Maintaining work and a relationship for many years, Sean thought he had life sorted but kept falling back into addiction. At one stage after an altercation in a rehab service, he jumped off a building.

“I’ve never ever attempted my own life before. I don’t know what I was thinking. I call it a bit of a cry out for help,” he says.

Also a survivor of multiple alcoholic seizures, Sean now believes he has a purpose in life – to help others. He has survived so many incidents that could have taken his life. 

“So, from there, things actually started picking up,” Sean explains. “I was in hospital for three weeks at that point, pretty much wheelchair bound because I broke my heel, fractured my other heel and fractured my back and have now got a limp for the rest of my life.” 

Sean reconnected with his family who were always loving towards him and became a volunteer with The Salvation Army’s Streetlevel service.

If you or someone you know is at risk of losing your home, or are already experiencing homelessness, please contact us. We have a range of support services for youth, adults and families.
Salvation Army Homelessness Support Services

Sean has now found ‘his tribe’, friendships, purpose and he is also exploring Christian faith and belief and starting to study community services.

“They welcomed me with open arms. No judgement,” he says. “Literally my best friends at the moment are from Streetlevel.”

“I absolutely love helping people. I love the whole environment of volunteering. It’s a chance where I can give back. A lot of people that go to Streetlevel are still highly in addiction and on the streets, and I share a bit of my story with them and I feel I’m giving hope and help not to give up.” 

“I am currently studying a Certificate 3 in Community Services at TAFE and am absolutely loving it.

It’s going even better than I even thought it would,” he says.

“I’m not living in shame anymore. I used to hide a lot of what’s happened in my life, but I’m finding it’s helping people, especially those that need to know that things can change and things can get better.

“There’s hope for everyone.”

It’s time to end homelessness: together, we can make a difference. To see more stories visit our Homelessness Week page.
Homelessness Week 2023