Car Boot Sleep Out

As temperatures dropped across Sydney, over 100 people gathered at Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre rooftop for Newtown Neighbourhood Centre’s annual Car Boot Sleep Out. They gave up the warmth of their beds for one night to stand in solidarity with the many who don’t have that choice. People like Justine.

When Justine first arrived at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, she was exhausted and distraught from the uncertainty. She and her four-year-old daughter, Rose, had been pushed out of a toxic living situation and were facing the unthinkable: life without a home.

“I would stay out with Rose all day, just so we didn’t have to be in that house. At night, we’d sneak back into our room and try not to be seen.”

Eventually, Justine sat on a park bench and contemplated her next move, one that no mother should ever have to face. That’s when someone told her to go to Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. That visit changed everything. They helped Justine and Rose find emergency accommodation, food, emotional support, and eventually, safe, stable housing. It wasn’t easy, over the next few years, they moved eight times. But they never had to go through it alone. And Justine never stopped fighting for her future. She’s since graduated from TAFE’s Food Lab, launched her own catering business (Indigibites), and continues to support others who are doing it tough. But she still remembers what it felt like to have nowhere to go.

“NNC became part of our family. Even when I didn’t feel like talking, I knew I was welcome. I don’t know where I’d be without them.”

Justine's story is powerful but there are so many women still out there, sleeping in cars, staying in unsafe homes, or walking the streets with their children in the rain.

You can help the next mum who walks through their doors.

[Donate Now – Help another mum like Justine]

With your support, Newtown Neighbourhood Centre can continue this work right through to the end of financial year and be there when the next Justine needs immediate support. 

Thank you for being part of this story.

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