When a House Becomes a Home: Sunrise Foundation
At Sunrise Foundation, we believe housing is more than shelter — it’s the beginning of healing, security, and dignity. Discover how affordable community housing for women is changing lives, one home at a time.
When a House Becomes a Home
For an increasing number of women across Australia, the idea of “home” has felt more like a memory than a reality. When you’re constantly moving, couch surfing, or stuck on a social housing waitlist, the idea of a safe, stable, and affordable place to live can feel heartbreakingly out of reach.
At Sunrise Foundation, we believe that housing is much more than shelter — it’s the foundation for everything that matters.
Stability. Dignity. Possibility. And when done right, affordable community housing becomes more than just a structure. It becomes a home.
“I Thought Home Was Something Other People Got to Have”
When *Mikayla found herself unable to secure shelter at an Aboriginal refuge, her first thoughts turned to finding alternative means of support that catered for cultural safety and respect. The first time she stepped into her Sunrise apartment — tucked inside a leafy suburban complex in Sydney’s — she didn’t quite believe it was hers. “Then I got this big, beautiful surprise with a choice of beds, chairs, a washing machine, a dryer, a dishwasher – I just love it here.” That key didn’t just unlock a physical space — it unlocked a sense of possibility. When women have secure housing, everything else starts to take root. “I’ve never had anything like this before, I feel really blessed to have this beautiful apartment,” she adds. “It’s my place where I go to relax”
A Different Kind of Housing. A Different Kind of Future.
At Sunrise Foundation, we specialise in community housing for women, designed with care, stability, and long-term security in mind. Our apartments are located within existing neighbourhoods — not set apart from them — and furnished to feel like home.
These are affordable homes in established communities, with wraparound supports that help women heal, grow, and reconnect. While the bricks and mortar matter, it’s the warmth, safety and connection that change lives. “One woman told us the best part wasn’t the new linen or the sunny balcony — it was hearing the neighbours say good morning as she passed on her way to work. She felt seen.”
Home Isn’t a Location — It’s a Feeling
Too often, social and affordable housing in Australia is treated as a stopgap or last resort. But the women we work with will tell you otherwise.
Home is the sound of your child laughing in the next room.
It’s hanging a picture on the wall because you know you’re staying.
It’s walking into a kitchen that smells like your own cooking, not someone else’s.
And for women who’ve spent years navigating housing insecurity or unsafe living conditions, that feeling is nothing short of transformative.
More Than Housing. A Foundation for Healing.
We understand that trauma doesn’t end the day someone gets the keys. That’s why every Sunrise property includes access to trauma-informed tenancy support, community networks, and pathways into education or employment.
It’s not just about keeping the lights on. It’s about restoring agency, belonging, and hope.
And it works. Our residents are enrolling in study programs, attending financial literacy workshops, rebuilding relationships with family, volunteering in their local areas — and shaping our services through lived experience. Because no one understands what’s needed better than those who’ve lived through it.
The Human Side of Housing Reform
The headlines might focus on numbers: new housing developments, supply pipelines, and affordability ratios. But at Sunrise Foundation, we focus on the people. Because housing solutions in Australia can’t succeed unless the human impact is front and centre.
Housing is not a transaction. It’s a transformation.
With the right partnerships — across government, community, investors and philanthropy — we can scale what works. And we can do it in a way that is sustainable, supportive, and focused on the real outcome: helping women find and keep a home.
Let’s Make Room for a New Dream
The “Great Australian Dream” of owning a house on a quarter-acre block may be fading. But the dream of having a home you feel safe in? That’s alive and well.
We see it every day.
In a quiet apartment complex, tucked behind jacaranda trees.
In a bedroom where a child pins their drawings to the wall.
In a kitchen where a kettle hums and dinner simmers.
In the laughter shared between neighbours who were once strangers.