THE fight to end homelessness is personal for Jason Loakes, the chairman of a Logan homeless shelter.
Mr Loakes told the Jimboomba Times he lost a friend who died from a heart condition after experiencing homelessness for two years.
The friend was forced to fend for himself and his daughters who fled from a domestic violence situation.
"I was horrified trying to get this guy help and housing. It was tough," he said.
"The only job he could get was driving cabs and he had trouble with Centrelink because he was getting different payments week to week.
"A landlord got jack of him for being behind in rent and he was homeless with two daughters.
"There were no agencies to help homeless men with daughters at that time."
Mr Loakes said he was lucky to have only experienced three hours of homelessness during his youth.
"If you do go homeless I highly recommend only three hours," he said.
His heartbreaking story comes amid National Homeless Week from August 4 to 10.
National Homeless Week highlights the plight of 116,000 Australians experiencing homelessness.
Mr Loakes said it was important for people to get in touch with shelters and homeless people to understand how to help in practical terms.
"Some people have their own idea of what they think shelters and homeless people need and it isn't necessarily helpful," he said.
"Some people do food drives when we already provide food for people or second hand clothes donations when we already have three 20 foot containers full of clothes.
"What we always need is for people to fundraise for us.
"There are an extraordinary amount of expenses that go into paying bills, feeding people, clothing them, housing them and providing counselling and 24-hour care."
Waterford homeless shelter, Sheltered By Grace, is planning to have the capacity to accommodate eight more people by Christmas this year.
The shelter received a $97,795 Gambling Community Benefit Fund grant for the construction of a two storey Homeless Transition Centre building to provide on-site counselling, training and accommodation.
Jordan MP Charis Mullen said the Queensland government had embarked on a 10-year housing strategy with a focus on prevention and early intervention services.
"Following the introduction of the Queensland Housing Strategy in June 2017, there is an even greater effort on providing safe, secure and sustainable homes, as well as providing secure jobs through building more social housing," she said.
Ms Mullen said 637 new homes would be built for vulnerable Queenslanders in 2019-2020.
