There are between 800 and 1200 people who are homeless each night in Canberra, according to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society - a remarkable figure for such an affluent city.
Some cope by couch hopping, or staying with friends; others sleep rough, or find shelter in emergency housing for a while.
Places like Vinnies' Samaritan House provide emergency accomodation for about three weeks - after that, it's time to move on.
Once the three weeks are up, places like Havelock House are the next rung on Canberra's temporary housing ladder.
Though for many Havelock House is synonymous with drugs, and violence, it wasn't always so, and the mix of residents has changed again in recent years.
The house is a melange of pensioners, the formerly-homeless, unemployed people, those down on their luck, people with a mental illness and even local and international students who can't afford anything else.
Spending a few nights in Havelock was an opportunity to meet residents and hear their stories about life in the house.
People like Paul, for example who until a few days ago was sleeping in "dumpsters and cardboard boxes". When he spoke to the Canberra Times, Paul was ecstatic to be moving into the house.
Pensioner Shirley moved into Havelock last October. She was happy to talk about life in there, though like most residents, she did not want her picture taken.
Shirley lives on $305 per week, including $30 rental assistance.
"With my pension I pay $50 off my mastercard, I have to get my groceries, pay my rent, and put in $10 a week for electricity," she says.
Rent is $241 a fortnight for Shirley, with a small rebate from Havelock because she is a "senior resident", which means she helps out around the place.
"$305 a week is not enough to live on, it's not. You don't buy clothes. You have to be a smart shopper. I don't buy meat, I might eat it once or twice a week at my daughter's house," she says.
And then there is Jai, a poet, resident, and board member of the Havelock Housing Association.
Jai says life in Havelock is what you make of it.
He doesn't deny that there are unsavoury elements - drugs and violence - but says its a problem management has in hand through the senior residents program and the changing mix of tenants.
"There's a big mix [of people] at Havelock, but its like any community. The microcosm here is like the macrocosm out there," he says.
"You have people who are sociable and people who are anti-social."
For Jai, Havelock has been a great "launching pad".
Like most things in life, Havelock is what you make of it.
The chief executive of the association, Loc Luu, says senior residents like Jai, Shirley and Laurie demonstrate the best side of Havelock.
He doesn't like the perceptions people have of the house.
"In the past 18 months to two years we have changed it [Havelock] with the senior residents program,'' he says.
Luu says Havelock has become a "haven" for people who can't afford anything else.
Luu applauds some of the Stanhope Government's moves in the affordable housing area, but he would like to see more done.
"When you talk about affordable housing at $300,000, well, I don't see my children being able to afford that. We need to really look at that," he says.
"Where Havelock Housing is focussing on are the people who can't afford that sort of housing ... we would like to see more [affordable] programs to house people.''