“I don’t know who my dad was,” she said. 

“When life with my mum and stepdad on the Central Coast got hard I moved to Sydney where I had a job.”

The move did not work out for the best.

“I lost my job, then my accommodation. I ended up alternating between Teresa House and living on the street. I got showers and food and clothes at the Wayside Chapel.”

Deni said at one point she got a golden staph infection in one leg and only just got to the hospital in time.

“The mum of my boyfriend at the time lived in Kiama and offered me a place, then helped me register with Centrelink. But eventually she blamed me for getting between her and her son; he wouldn’t stand up for me so I left.”

After various adventures in temporary accommodation, and finding shelter in trains travelling between Wollongong and Sydney, she ended up at a backpackers’ hostel in Wollongong.

“I have hydrocephaly, and at one point I had to go into hospital to get the shunt in my head fixed.

“I started a course in business administration at a college in Kiama, but fell in with a man who ended up being abusive.

“The day he threatened to hit me I left and came to Nowra for a CareSouth assessment. I had some clothes but left all my other possessions behind, including blankets and toiletries.”

Deni has been in Nowra for two weeks.

“My last boyfriend is still after me,” she said.

“During the day I volunteer with the local Salvos, and I’m now on the priority waiting list for independent housing with Southern Youth and Family Services.

“It’s difficult to map the future out when I’m living from day-to-day.

“I want a job. I want to study for a diploma in business. And I want a home.”

Marcus, from Ulladulla, is 19 years old and has been without a home since he was 13.

“My mum chose my stepdad over me,” he said.

“Sometimes I was able to stay with mates but most of the time I lived on the streets.”

He said he lived at Ulladulla’s sea pool.

“I lived on top of the toilet block. From there I could see what was coming and going.

“I was always hungry. I was always cold. I always wanted to cry.”

He said he survived by begging for money and stealing food.

“I had a couple of junkie friends, but they were crims and I got into trouble.”

He briefly went north to Forster and Tuncurry, but returned to face court in Milton for aggravated break and enter.

“I did four months’ rehab with Oolong House in Nowra.

“Today I’m starting a course to get my white card so I can look for jobs on construction sites.”

Marcus said he wanted to get his life going.

“I’m going back to Ulladulla to be with my mum again.”

He’s grateful to CareSouth for the help he’s received, and is more positive about the future than before.

“In the long term maybe I’ll get an education. I think about that a lot.

“And one day I want a family of my own.”

CareSouth’s outreach manager Rob Wilson said the Shoalhaven needs stable and secure housing for young adults.

“It needs to be affordable and suitable as well.

“It’s estimated that 40 per cent of homeless people are under the age of 25. One of the biggest problems they face is breaking into the private rental market,” he said.

“I have an 18-year-old who is employed full-time in a good job, and he’s been trying to get his own place for over six months.”

Mr Wilson said homeless young people were a hidden target group.

“You won’t find many young homeless people under a bridge in the Shoalhaven, for example,” he said.

“Many young people think it’s OK to couch-surf, and it’s something they will do for long periods of time, staying with grandparents or friends or even friends of friends.

“With the Shoalhaven Youth Support Outreach Service we try to intervene as soon as possible. We identify the needs of young people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness and offer support, and relevant referral pathways such as mediation or counselling as the first step.”

He said the reasons behind becoming homeless can include family violence, a mental health crisis (sometimes with the parents), and financial hardship.

For further information on the SYSS Crisis accommodation or Outreach service please call 1300 554 260 or 02 4422 7625.