Stories from the street

BALLINA local Steven Harris has spent decades living rough, hitchhiking between towns and sleeping in bush camps far from sight.

Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and complex PTSD in the 1980s, Harris spent much of his adult life seeking solitude in remote bushland, including two years in a makeshift camp near Ballina that was twice hit by flood.

“When they shut down the rubbish tip, all of the vermin left the tip and came into the bushland,” he said.

“Rats, red-bellied snakes – it just destroyed the ecology.

“There used to be echidnas running through there, green tree snakes – they’ve all gone now.”

Throughout his life, art has served as an escape and a means of self-expression during a turbulent childhood.

“I had a terrible stutter, terrible epilepsy, and it seemed as though I had everything against me as a child,” he said.

“I could escape anywhere on Earth with a piece of paper and a pencil.”

The floods of 2022 led Harris to seek help at Mary’s Place, which referred him to Social Futures and connected him to Homes NSW, Open Minds for counselling, and other services.

He has now been in secure housing for eight months, supported by his Connecting Home case worker Roberta and a network of local services.

With a roof over his head and a space to paint, Harris is preparing for an exhibition that will explore themes of homelessness and mental health.

“Support is what’s keeping me here,” he said.

“It’s almost like you have a family to look after you.”