On Thursday the 10th of September, I slept in my car.
It was part of the Live Like Her Challenge, run by The Forgotten Women, a Queensland-based organisation supporting women over 55 who are homeless and currently living in their cars. I took part because a portion of every purchase from my Common Thread Project, my tees, sweats, and caps, already goes toward their work. I wanted to understand, even in the smallest way, what that support was actually for.
I wasn't alone that night. Our Love Threads photographer, Zara Sarson, joined me for the experience, along with her three kids. Having them there made it feel less like a solo statement and more like something we were genuinely sharing, a small taste of a reality so many women face completely alone.
I won't pretend one night taught me everything. It didn't. But it taught me something.
During the night, we heard some of the women's own stories, how they came to be living this way. What struck me most was how ordinary the beginnings often were. For most, there was no single dramatic event. It was one or two choices, a relationship that ended, a job lost, a lease that fell through at the wrong moment, that quietly changed the entire trajectory of their living standards and conditions. There was no single moment of falling. Just a slow drift, decision by decision, until the ground they thought was solid simply wasn't there anymore.
The numbers shared with us that evening made it clear this isn't a small or isolated issue. According to The Forgotten Women, women over the age of 55 are the fastest-growing homeless population in Australia.
It was cold, and genuinely uncomfortable. I woke several times through the night, shifting, trying to find a position that didn't ache, listening to every sound outside. And each time I woke, I found myself thinking about the women who do this every single night, not for one night as an experience, but as their reality. The challenges they navigate just to get through til morning. Their safety. The quiet, constant toll it takes on their wellbeing and how long they'll live.
I chose to take part myself because being a kind human isn't something I want to just put on a t-shirt. It has to mean showing up.
Why this matters to me
When I built the Common Thread Project, the idea was simple: humanity is a common thread, and the brands we choose to buy from should reflect that. Every tee, sweat, and cap in that range carries a little of that intention with it, a portion of every purchase goes directly toward supporting women through the Live Like Her Challenge and The Forgotten Women's broader work.
It's easy for that kind of thing to stay abstract, a nice line in a product description. This year, I wanted it to be real for me too.
Thank you
To everyone who has bought a piece from the Common Thread Project, thank you. You were part of this too, even if you never saw the inside of a car at 3am wondering how many more hours until sunrise. Your purchase helped make this challenge, and the ongoing support behind it, possible.
If you'd like to learn more about The Forgotten Women and the work they do, you can visit theforgottenwomen.org.au.
We'll be doing it again next year. It's a genuinely worthwhile experience, setting one night aside to live like her, and in doing so, helping raise funds for a truly worthy cause.
Kate x