TV
Crisis for retirees: Renters struggling with rising costs
Channel 10’s The Project
11 February 2025
There has been a push to get the Federal Government to raise rent assistance for retirees as new data reveals two-thirds are living in poverty.
The landlords putting people before profit to save older women from homelessness.
Channel 9’s A Current Affair
29 November 2024
A small network in the Blue Mountains is helping make a real difference for the fastest growing cohort at risk of homelessness.
Digital & print articles
Program Marks Two Years
Blue Mountains Gazette
27 May, 2026
Two years ago, Homes for Older Women began with a simple but powerful idea: that older women in the Blue Mountains should not be left to face homelessness alone.
At 75, Shirley moved more than 500km to live in a share house
3 April, 2025
This “housing limbo” has seen a rise in affordable-housing alternatives, including programs that pair women in need with those who own property in a house-share arrangement. What starts as a financial solution to a problem often results in something just as beneficial: the joy and power of friendship.
"A seat on a train was my home"
The Saturday Telegraph
15 March 2025
Older women are the fastest growing victims of homelessness in NSW, but an innovative scheme by a group of compassionate volunteers is giving them a roof over their heads and hope.
Sharing your home can be the best Christmas gift of all
Blue Mountains Gazette
16 December 2024
Christmas is a time when many families get together, but for a growing number of older Blue Mountains women, hosting a get-together is impossible because they simply don’t have a home.
How to get lower rent: Aussie tenants and landlords get creative in the housing crisis
9 October, 2024
Three months ago, Karren, a 63-year-old Blue Mountains grandmother, faced homelessness. After losing her rental room, she found herself unable to afford the sky-high local rents.
Saved from slipping through the housing cracks
Blue Mountains Gazette
19 August, 2024
At the age of 63, grandmother Karren couldn’t believe she faced the prospect of being homeless.
New Housing Initiative Offers Hope for Older Women
Hawkesbury Post
11 August, 2024
Bronwen Johnston, from Blue Mountains OWN, was interviewed by the Hawkesbury Post about the Homes for Older Women (HOW) program.
The fight to save older women from becoming homeless in the Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains Gazette
1 June 2024
Single older women struggling to get affordable housing in the Blue Mountains rental market have been given a potential lifeline with the launch of the Homes for Older Women (HOW) program.
Radio
Bronwen Johnston talks with Hamish McDonald
702 ABC Radio, Sydney Mornings
July 22, 2025
HOW RBM interview with Heather Shepherd
Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 FM – Host Marlene Churn’s interview with Heather Shepherd
December 4, 2024
A local solution for a local problem. Older women’s homelessness in the Blue Mountains with Heather Shepherd by Rights, Rorts and Rants.
Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 FM – Host Merran Maclaren’s interview with HOW Deputy Chair Heather Shepherd
1 September 2024
Homes for Older Women Radio Blue Mountains Interview
Radio Blue Mountains 89.1 FM – Host Susanne Rix’s interview with HOW Chair Bronwen Johnston
18 May 2024