‘Everyone deserves a safe space’: Inside the growing movement tackling housing insecurity

When Jellis Craig’s Sally Heeley and Felicity Allen talk about homelessness and housing insecurity, they speak about people and the basic right to a safe place to call home rather than statistics.  

“It’s a human right to have shelter and feel safe,” said Ms Allen, who is the real estate group’s senior marketing communications manager.  

“There’s no reason anyone in Australia should have to experience homelessness or housing insecurity.” 

It’s why the pair have joined A Night Without Home, a nationwide challenge encouraging people to go without home comforts for one night in October to raise funds and awareness for people experiencing homelessness.  

It’s the first campaign by the newly launch A Home For All Foundation, a national initiative uniting the property industry to help end homelessness by raising much-needed awareness and money to tackle the problem.  

All money raised for A Home For All Foundation this financial year will go to charities working to support those experiencing homelessness due to family and domestic violence. 

Ms Allen and Ms Heeley see the issue not just as a community challenge, but as one the property industry has a responsibility to help solve. 

“Our business is all about helping people find homes,” said Ms Heeley, who is the Jellis Craig Foundation manager.  

“So when you think about the number of Australians without one, it really hits home for us as an industry.”  

The Jellis Craig Foundation was created in 2013 and has since raised more than $4 million for charitable partners.  

The group’s staff recently voted on the issues that they cared about the most, and three themes emerged: homelessness, mental health, and domestic violence.  

“Our people wanted us to focus on these three areas, and they’re all closely linked,” Ms Heeley said.  

Through the foundation, Jellis Craig has supported organisations such as The Big Umbrella, which provides meals to people sleeping rough, and Lighthouse Foundation, which helps vulnerable young people into supported accommodation. 

It has also helped the McAuley Community Services for Women, which assists women escaping family and domestic violence; and LifeChanger Foundation, which delivers youth mental health programs. 

But Ms Heeley said their involvement goes far beyond providing funding.  

She said their teams rolled up their sleeves, painting and gardening at Lighthouse Foundation homes or cooking and serving meals with The Big Umbrella. 

Ms Heeley, Ms Allen and numerous Jellis Craig staff will take part in A Night Without Home this October, including chief executive Andrew McCann who will sleep in his car overnight. 

Ms Allen said the event was an important reminder that homelessness took many forms. 

“People often think of rough sleeping, but that’s only a small fraction,” she said.  

“So many people are couch surfing, living in cars, or staying in temporary accommodation. It’s hidden and it’s happening in every suburb.” 

More than 122,000 Australians have no safe or secure place to live on any given night, according to Census data, and just 6% of them are sleeping rough. 

Both Ms Heeley and Ms Allen said community work had become deeply embedded in Jellis Craig’s culture.  

“We’ve raised over $4 million since the foundation began, but what really stands out is the level of participation from our people,” Ms Heeley said.  

“It’s part of who we are. Everyone wants to get involved, and it brings our teams closer together.” 

Ms Allen agreed, saying the sense of purpose flowed through the business. 

“When you’re out there cooking meals or talking to people on the street, it completely shifts your perspective,” she said.  

“It reminds you that we’re all human, and that housing is the foundation for everything else. Everyone deserves a safe space to call home.”  

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