My name is Gary. I moved out of a drug house, so I'm homeless. I couldn't handle being around drugs anymore.
I made a choice in my life to discard that part of my life and people who associate with drugs because, and it took me a fair while to realise, but it was stuffing my life up beyond the point of being able to think straight.
One day I had an epiphany and I just walked out — literally. I came down to the South Coast to get away but once I moved here I discovered that the ice epidemic is just as bad here as it is in Sydney.
A mate came and picked me up. He just took me away. That was about five months ago, but I've been homeless for nearly two years. Even though I'm in a worse situation now I feel safer not being near the drug. It makes my life a lot easier.
When people walk past me, they look at me like I'm a piece of crap because I don't look healthy, but when you're homeless you can't really afford to get on the drugs in the long run because everything is so expensive.
You can't just go out and buy a week's worth of food, you can't go and shower whenever you want, things like that.
People categorise you like "because he's living in a tent, he's homeless, he's a druggie, he's a grub". In my eyes, I'm trying to do the best I can.
It's a Catch 22 situation: you can get on the drugs and be homeless or you can make an effort like I am to live just a little bit easier. It's still hard being homeless because in the long run the public still look at you, frowning. It's hard to know what people are thinking.
I think people should take the time to consider what life is like in my shoes. They'll realise that life is not easy. I know life isn't meant to be easy, but it's 10 times harder when you don't have anywhere to live and you're trying to be clean and respectful.
Being a holiday town, real estates can put any price they want on a rental. They [can] choose anyone, of many, who are looking at homes and I'm unemployed and that's frowned upon.
The real estates have it all stitched up around here and dealing with the Department of Housing is like banging your head against a brick wall. I end up feeling that, in the long run, I haven't gone anywhere.
Contributed with assistance from the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub.
