Alcohol & Other Drugs (AOD) Transition Project
Building Foundations: A Journey from Crisis to Stability
‘In this home we treat people with love’. A sign hangs in the living room above collected trinkets and photos of loved ones. I don’t doubt it’s adhered to with tenacity. I’m provided with a tour and observe every belonging (down to the shampoo bottles) organised meticulously. I’m told, “there’s a place for everything, and everything has a place”. The kitchen shows evidence of chicken soup made for dinner the night before. At age 45, this is Marie’s first home. She tells me this is the first meal she’s cooked in 10 years.
I first met Marie six months ago. She was sleeping rough and navigating the complex intersections of homelessness, substance use, and mental ill-health. With street homelessness making it difficult to take daily medication, Marie’s experience of schizophrenia intensified. Her use of heroin and methamphetamine, while contributing to symptoms of psychosis, served as a form of self-medication during unsafe and chaotic periods of street-based living.
Marie first used heroin aged 15 and had moved to injecting by age 17. She had spent much of her adult life cycling in and out of prison—mostly for low-level shoplifting offences driven by poverty, unmet needs, and survival. Marie began using methamphetamines in her thirties following the sudden and traumatic death of her partner.
I’m excited to get it all started.
The first six months of our work together were grounded in crisis support—meeting Marie wherever she was at, which at times meant driving around Redfern looking for her in the places she usually slept. During this time, she was also supported by a caseworker from CRC’s Women’s Transition Program, and our services worked in close collaboration to ensure she didn’t fall through the cracks. Despite experiencing psychosis and often not having a phone or a fixed address, Marie somehow managed to keep track of her court dates and attend as required. This was simultaneously a testament to her remarkable survival skills, and a sobering reminder of the impact of lifelong institutionalisation and deep-rooted fear of incarceration.
A recent hospitalisation marked a turning point. Marie began receiving fortnightly depot injections of antipsychotic medication, which led to a significant improvement in her mental health and stability. Through the Women’s Transition Program at CRC, and in partnership with St George Housing’s Port Jackson program, she was offered her first-ever home. She recently reflected how proud she is to tell friends and family, ‘I’m going home’.
With stability has come the space for change. Over coffee, we held our first formal AOD counselling session. Her goals—reduce her use of heroin and methamphetamine, improve health, and save money—are ones she’s always had, but never had the safety or support to pursue.
Driving her home, she reflected: “I’m excited to get it all started.”
More than anything, it is Marie’s resilience that has shaped her journey toward empowerment—supported by stability, safety, and connection.
Learn more about our AOD Transition program
Learn more about our Women’s Transition program
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