Simon’s story: starting over at 50

The floods came without warning. In just one devastating night, everything Simon had built in Lismore disappeared beneath the muddy waters.

His home. His recording studio. His hope. “I lost everything that I owned,” Simon recalls. “I walked away with just the shirt on my back. I had to reinvent myself at 50.”

For a travelling musician who’d previously battled homelessness for decades, it was a huge blow. Simon had bounced between short-term rentals and friends’ couches for years, until he no longer felt welcome.

It wasn’t until he found a community in Lismore that he put down roots, and he set up a recording studio to write music. But in a few moments, it was all gone.

“I’d finally got back on my feet,” Simon recalls. “Then the floods wiped me out and I ended up back on the streets.”

For a while, Simon lived in a tent by the river. Eventually, he bought a van, hoping it would offer more security. Instead, it became both a shelter and a target.

“I got fined through the roof for sleeping in my van. It’s hard to get motivated when you’re getting kicked in the guts all the time.”

Slipping through the cracks

After every fine, Simon drifted from place to place, all the way up to Queensland and back, always searching for somewhere to belong. When the van broke down, Simon found himself stranded in a car park in Maroubra for months.

The fines kept mounting. Thousands of dollars’ worth. And it felt impossible.

“The more we got to know Simon, the more we realised that he had really slipped through holes in the system,” Joanne says, Simon’s first caseworker with Wesley Mission.

After so many setbacks, Simon didn’t trust any authorities. When Wesley Mission’s Specialist Homeless Team first knocked on his van, he turned them away.

“I was standoffish. I was so angry and not in a good place mentally. They couldn’t help me because I didn’t want to be helped.”

But we came back. A month later, when Simon was ready, we were there.

“I realised my mental health was getting worse and I needed help. That’s when I met the wonderful Joanne. She treated me with dignity, she didn’t judge me and she treated me as a real person.”

Putting down roots

For the first time, Simon felt truly heard and hope became possible.

“They put me in a beautiful home. They furnished it with a fridge, washing machine, bed and decent furniture. They gave me vouchers and just helped me get on my feet.”

But it wasn’t just four walls and a roof. Our team helped Simon navigate the complex web of systems that can feel impossible when you’re living out of a van. We stood beside him through it all: medical support, dental care, counselling, quitting smoking and tackling the crushing fines that had weighed him down for years.

“If it wasn’t for the Wesley Mission crew navigating that and advocating on my behalf, there’s no way in the world that I’d be housed today. My life has gotten 100-fold better.”

Now, Simon sits on his couch, writing music while watching the waves crash onto the beach.

“I love my home. It’s the first place I’ve ever felt like I belong. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very long time.”

Patrick, Simon’s current caseworker says, “He has a new lease on life. He just needed that leg up, and once he got it, his confidence came back, and he has a drive again.”

Simon’s apartment is lined with his late brother’s Aboriginal artwork – pieces that help him reconnect with his culture. He’s even started his own business, creating prints from his brother’s work.

This opportunity that I’ve been given – I’m not wasting it,” he smiles.