I joined the Salvos homelessness tour – and one thing became very clear
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
REFLECTION BY LERISSE SMITH
The juxtaposition was impossible to ignore.
Across a serene Melbourne city park, a photographer captured the joy of a bride and groom on their wedding day. Their moment was filled with celebration and hope for a future of love, financial security, and a place to call home.
Nearby, a group of Year 9 students were captured in a very different moment. As part of a learning activity, they were asked to imagine being a young person experiencing homelessness with only $50 to survive the next 24 hours.
While one group celebrated the hope of a secure future, the other was considering what life would be like if that security disappeared.
As I joined students and teachers from Hawkesdale College for the Salvos Schools Homelessness City Tour, it quickly became clear that this was far more than a school excursion.
It was a compelling, real-world experience that challenged students’ assumptions about homelessness and encouraged them to consider how they might respond with compassion and contribute to meaningful change.
Students were invited to step beyond assumptions and encounter homelessness not as a statistic or a headline, but as a human experience shaped by circumstance, vulnerability, resilience – and hope.
Watching the students engage, I was reminded that some of the most powerful learning happens beyond the classroom. I found myself learning alongside them – reminded that understanding often begins when we are willing to listen before we judge.
Listening to Bronwyn Covill, Victorian Schools Engagement Program Leader, guide the workshop through discussion, activities, and lived-experience videos, I was struck by how quickly assumptions began to shift.
The conversation moved beyond what homelessness looks like to understanding the complex circumstances that can lead someone to a place they never imagined they would end up.
And one truth stood out immediately: homelessness is often hidden in plain sight.
It reinforced that homelessness could affect anyone, with causes ranging from family violence and a lack of affordable housing to financial hardship and relationship breakdown.
The distance between stability and crisis is often much shorter than we imagine.
It’s easy to believe homelessness happens to ‘other people’ until we recognise how quickly circumstances can change. A single event can reshape a life.
As we walked through Melbourne’s CBD, listening to stories of people who had experienced homelessness and visiting places of refuge with Salvos Schools Engagement Coordinator, Hannah Fowler, after the workshop at Project 614, I was reminded of John, an older gentleman I interviewed several years earlier.
Once living what many would describe as the Australian dream – with a successful business, financial security, luxury cars and a home – he was struck by a serious accident that left him out of action for many months, triggering a chain of events that eventually saw him lose his livelihood, the cars, his wealth and his home.
He still recalls the indignity of sleeping under bridges, the stench of certain public toilet blocks, and the constant hunger that accompanied life without a safe place to call home.
With support from The Salvation Army, John eventually rebuilt his life. He told me that having a front door, a warm bed and a private bathroom felt like living in a palace.
His story has stayed with me because it challenges how we define security, success and what it truly means to feel at home.
Together, John’s story and the stories shared throughout the tour reinforced that homelessness is not a distant issue but a human reality unfolding in the communities we pass through every day.
And as the tour drew to a close, I saw firsthand that when young people are given the opportunity to engage with complex issues, they leave informed, inspired, and ready to champion social change.
This is reflected in the actions of many students, who leave not only with greater awareness but also with a desire to turn compassion into action.
Some schools go on to organise a range of fundraising initiatives, from sleep-outs and support for the Salvos Red Shield Appeal to volunteering with their local Salvos corps and preparing Christmas hampers. Others develop ongoing partnerships with their corps and local communities.
I left the tour with a renewed sense of hope.
Hope not only for the young people who took part, but also for the conversations and actions they will carry into their communities.
Hope found in the dedication and passion of the Salvos Schools team, who remind us that behind every statistic is a person with a story – someone who deserves to be respected, seen and heard.
Hope found in the compassion of a classroom full of engaged teenagers eager to make the world a better place.
And hope found in journeys such as John's – a reminder that behind every story of homelessness is a person, a journey, and the possibility of a new beginning.
