Joe Rutter spent most of 2016 sleeping rough.
For three of those months, he slept hidden between the roots of a fig tree in a Northbridge park, trying to avoid the gaze of passers-by.
"People think there's no rats in Perth," he said, in the same park six years later.
"There's rats. I've had them run across me, wake me up."
Mr Rutter said homelessness "just happened".
"I had the job, I had the cars, missus, house, but it just all in a matter of about a week, everything just imploded so I lost everything," he said.
After reaching out to community service provider Ruah, Mr Rutter was chosen as part of a trial of a new way of tackling homelessness.
It took rough sleepers and placed them in homes with intensive wrap-around supports to help address health, mental health and substance abuse issues.
Home changes everything
"It's like that old Castle movie, your house is your kingdom sort of thing," Mr Rutter said.
"I haven't got a big place, I've just got a small unit with a toilet, a bathroom, kitchen, but to me it's everything.
"I class them [support services] as family because I don't have any major friends, I'm a bit of a loner, but with them I can express what I'm feeling.
"Without services, you're just treading water."
Debra Zanella, CEO of Ruah, said the strategy worked.
"What we have found in our research over many, many years is if you place them [rough sleepers] in a home with great landlord support, the right support around them, they succeed," she said.
"So we've housed people who have been street present for over 25 years, regardless of whatever issues that they're presenting with."
The state government announced yesterday it would spend $20.7 million on social homes with similar supports in Perth, Peel and Bunbury.
"We are taking a bold step," Homelessness Minister John Carey said.
Program teaches three key elements
Half of the homes will be purchased by the state government, with not-for-profit Housing Choices providing the remainder, as well as being each property's "supportive landlord".
"The support that we provide is really around three key elements, and that's around maintaining your property, paying your rent and being a good neighbour," Housing Choices WA general manager Natalie Sangalli said.
"Those are the things that quite often put a tenancy at risk, so that's the really deep leaning work that we do."
Other support services will also step in to provide help for specific issues people are battling.
The aim is for the first people to be housed through the program before the end of the year.
Yesterday's funding also includes a boost to Perth's 'By Name List' – a central register that allows service providers to coordinate their help by sharing information on rough sleepers.
Originally started by Ruah, it will now be managed by the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness.
"One of the most valuable things that we've been able to do from the development of this data is actually understand the nature of the challenge we're facing," the Alliance's CEO David Pearson said.
"Importantly, what we've got as a consequence of this announcement, and many years of work that preceded it, is alignment between government and the sector to work together using common data to understand what the problem is, [what] the needs are and then better meet those needs."
Call for government to do more
The government's funding will also go towards an extra 18 short and medium-term beds in the CBD, as well as extending the Safe Perth City initiative.
Coordination groups will also be set-up in Fremantle, Perth CBD, Geraldton, Bunbury and Mandurah to help work across organisations to get rough sleepers the help they need.
The government's funding has won the support of those working to end homelessness, who say it's a good start towards tackling an enormous problem.
"But at the end of the day we face a housing crisis in Australia, and a housing crisis in WA in particular," Mr Pearson said.
"That needs all levels of government doing a lot more to address the problems of housing affordability, the problems of home ownership, of rental rights.
"All of these things right across the housing spectrum need more attention."
