For 25 years, Charlene made her living as a catwalk model. Age 52 she was homeless, living in her car.

This post deal with domestic violence and drug use, and could be triggering for some readers.

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Charlene was a catwalk model for top designers and she partied with rock stars. But when COVID hit 18 months ago, she found herself living in her car in northern NSW. So what happened?

Charlene grew up in Manchester in the UK. 

Her passion was horse riding, but her mum signed her up to do an etiquette course and she ended up getting into modelling. 

When she was offered the chance to model in Japan, she jumped at it. She was just 18 when she moved to Tokyo with a group of other British models. 

Watch: Formerly homeless people share what you can give to really make a difference. Post continues below.

“I was working for some fantastic designers, like Comme Des Garcons,” she tells Mamamia. “I made so much money I bought my mum and dad a house.” 

Charlene worked hard and partied hard.

“Because we were models, we got free drinks. There were lines of cocaine everywhere, if that’s what you wanted. My choice of drug was alcohol because I always got home, no matter how. I crawled, whatever.”

She partied with Mick Jagger and knocked back a chance to have a drink with Jon Bon Jovi. 

“I didn’t like his hair,” she remembers with a laugh.

Image: Supplied. 

While living in Japan, Charlene met her future husband. He worked in kickboxing.

“He rode a Harley, he wore beads, he had this American accent… he was the love of my life.”

They decided to move to Australia, a country Charlene had never been to before. They settled on the Gold Coast. Her husband got work at a tourist farm and Charlene had three children. But her husband returned to the kickboxing scene, and they started to drift apart. 

“Everything went pear-shaped. I’ve got a substance abuse problem and I just hit the bottle. That’s what I used to do to try to cope.”

Charlene returned to her first love, horses, and began working at stables. When the marriage ended, she had to support her three children by herself. She got sober, and the family lived in a series of rented places, often at the stables where she was working. 

“My kids woke up to horses every morning. They used to go and plait their manes. I didn’t have a lot of money but the lifestyle was good.”

Four years after the end of her marriage, Charlene went out one night and decided to have just one drink.  

“Bang! I just ended up with all these bad people around me. A lot of bad stuff happened to me. I was with another guy and I got really badly abused. I got sexually abused. I got shot up with heroin. I nearly got physically killed.”

Charlene was left with serious injuries, including to her back and neck. She sobered up again and got rid of the man who was abusing her, but the damage was done. 

“I never really addressed it, I just kept it inside: ‘Can’t deal. Got to focus on the kids. Money, money, money.’”

When Charlene’s last child left home, she moved to Murwillumbah and got another job with horses. But after working long hours, her back went, due to the abuse injuries. 

“I couldn’t get out of bed one day. I stopped working for them.”

She was renting a room for $150 a week and trying to get her back fixed when COVID hit. The place where she was renting got sold and life there became “hell”. Not having enough money to rent anywhere else, she moved into her car. 

Charlene says she’s “a bit of a gypsy,” who loves her freedom and always travels light. But it wasn’t easy living in her car, especially during a pandemic. 

“It was hard finding somewhere to go to the toilet or to shower. Everything was closed. I couldn’t cook properly. I lost a lot of weight. Being in the confined space – I had my possessions in one half, and was sleeping in the other half – it wasn’t really helping my back either.”

On top of that, Charlene was trying to complete a horticulture course without a computer. 

“I was doing everything over WhatsApp.”

While living in her car, Charlene was asked by a mobile homeless support service if she needed help. At first she said no – “I’m very independent” – but later she said yes. She was given a motel room that same day. 

“They put me in a lovely quiet place. I had my own little verandah, bathroom, everything. It was luxury. Unbelievable.”

The not-for-profit organisation Social Futures found Charlene a unit in Tweed Heads. According to Social Futures, northern NSW is under the most severe housing stress in Australia, with a three-bedroom house in Tweed Heads costing an average of $699 a week to rent. 

Rents have been driven up by tens of thousands of city dwellers moving to regional areas during the pandemic. 

Women in their fifties and older, like Charlene, are the fastest-growing cohort of homeless in Australia, due to financial disadvantages like lower wages and less superannuation, and Social Futures reports that there are women as well as children currently sleeping in cars. 

Happily for Charlene, things are looking up. She’s been given help to get treatment for her physical injuries as well as her mental health issues.  

“I’m finally getting on top of things,” she says. 

Image: Supplied. 

Her dream now is to move to Ballina and start working with horses again. 

“I need them. I haven’t touched in a horse in 12 months. It’s been really hard not to drink.”

Charlene wants to do more than just work to support herself. 

“I want to get into equine therapy and help women like me who have been abused and end up homeless, wrecked, and still bring up children and still have a dream at the end of it,” she explains. 

“I don’t just want to be a bum. I’m smart. I’ve got a job to do in this world and it’s with horses and I want to help people.”

You can read more about Social Futures here.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home. 

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

If this post brought up any issues for you, you can contact Drug Aware, Australia's 24hr alcohol and drug support line. You can reach them on (08) 9442 5000 or 1800 198 024.

Feature Image: Supplied.