An unemployed 18-year-old girl who has been couch surfing for the last year says she’s a reminder that homelessness can happen to anyone.
Zetta Clifford, from Tasmania, moved out of her family home in September 2018 and has spent the last year in and out of stable accommodation.
Ms Clifford – who has pink hair, fake nails and went through private schooling – said her story was a reminder that there was ‘no face for homelessness’.
The 18-year-old is currently unemployed but is looking for work ‘very desperately’.
She said she’s on an ‘unreasonable to live at home’ payment where she receives $230 a week from government agency Centrelink.
‘Everyone seems to think I’m just sitting around complaining about being homeless and not doing anything but it’s not how it is. There’s just not a lot you can do,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
Zetta Clifford, from Tasmania, moved out of her family home in September 2018 and has spent the last year in-and-out of stable accommodation
‘It’s just super small [Tasmania]. The smallness of the place is just ruining us. We haven’t go the space for the amount of people we’re getting. We don’t have the jobs for people.’
Ms Clifford finished school last year but is planning to continue her studies.
‘I’ve been through private schooling and all that jazz, I’m obviously not the face of homelessness, what you would think of anyway,’ she said.
‘My plan next year, no matter where I am, is to hopefully go to TAFE and do fashion design.
‘The only problem is you need somewhere to live before you can make plans with stuff like that.’
Speaking about her experiences of couch surfing, Ms Clifford described the ‘fear’ of not knowing where the next shelter would be.
‘I’ll admit it’s probably not as straining on the mind as people actually doing it on the streets but the fear of not knowing when your time is up at one place and when you’re going to have to find somewhere else, it’s a bit much,’ she said.
‘And constantly having to worry about making sure all your stuff is with you as well… there’s more to worry about than just finding somewhere to sleep.
Speaking to her experiences of couch surfing, Ms Clifford described the ‘fear’ of not knowing where the next shelter would be
‘You just feel like you’re in the way all the time because you’re constantly at other people’s places.’
While people in Ms Clifford’s life have been relatively supportive, she believes the stigma around homelessness in Australia is in desperate need of change.
‘Why should I have to look so derelict and unwashed for you to take me seriously?’ she questioned.
‘What I’ve noticed, when you’re homeless, people will look at what you do have over what you don’t.
‘For example, my having my acrylic nails and my pink hair means that I look like I’m not homeless.
‘There shouldn’t be a face of homelessness… you can’t just put one face on it. There’s young people and there’s old people. There’s not a demographic for being homeless, it can happen to anyone for any reason.’
Ms Clifford, wh’o finished school last year, is planning to further her study next year but hopes to find a stable home before doing so
Ms Clifford spent the end of last year living between her best friend and boyfriend’s house.
‘I left my mum’s September last year and was hopping between my best friend and boyfriend’s for a few months before I ended up settling down permanently at my boyfriend’s,’ she said.
‘His dad had a job overseas. He wasn’t really a fan of me being there… while his dad would work overseas, I was stable being there. When he would come back I would find myself couch surfing again.
‘For the last year and a bit I’ve been pretty heavily couch surfing on and off.’
Following the breakdown of the relationship, Ms Clifford moved from Hobart to Launceston on Thursday, where she is now living with a close friend and their father.
Ms Clifford said she can’t move back in with her mum as her grandmother is now living in her room. She is now also toying with the idea of moving in with a friend in Ballarat, Victoria.
‘Ideally I would like to live in Hobart, where my family is, where the few friends I do have are but it’s just too expensive,’ she said.
‘I don’t really want to move interstate, I’m not ready for it but I just have to.’