But just three years ago, at the age of 45, she was unemployed and at her lowest ebb.

Worst of all, she was homeless, a situation she found harder than anything she had ever experienced, in a life already filled with adversity.

Living in a small country town and working as a cleaner, she’d only recently moved in with her partner when her job fell through.

The relationship subsequently deteriorated, and she moved to Canberra to stay at a friend’s house, and discovered she had to wait six months before she could get on the public housing list.

Not wanting to burden her friend, she sought help in a women’s refuge, and quickly found herself in a spiralling nightmare of depression and insecurity.

“Becoming homeless destroyed any thought of who I was as an adult being able to support myself,” she said.

When she was eventually accepted into a women’s home in Canberra's south, run by the YWCA, she found a safe, ready-made community and was able to start finding her feet.

She now has a job she loves and has conquered her depression, and her two grown children no longer have to worry about her wellbeing.

The nine-bedroom house is reserved for older, single women who have found themselves homeless.

Like Ms Cook, they have often led sheltered, stable lives until circumstances left them without a stable income or a roof over their heads.

Executive director of YWCA Canberra Frances Crimmins said single women over 55 are the fastest growing cohort falling into homelessness.

“These women are hidden, and their plight often goes unnoticed, because they do not neatly fit into assumptions about homelessness,” she said.

“After decades of wage and superannuation inequality, compounded by a disproportionate amount of time in unpaid caring roles, older women can often find it hard to manage when relationships go awry, when domestic violence forces them from their homes or when their spouses pass on.”

Video: YWCA Canberra

She said Australia should be prepared for a “tsunami” of such cases, with a significant increase in the past 10 years of older women in rental accommodation.

"[This] tells you that they are at risk, if they are on the age pension or Newstart, of significant housing stress," she said.

The YWCA is now calling for more houses like the one that has provided a home for women like Ms Cook.

At the moment, the organisation manages just two such houses, as well as two one-bedroom units.

The most recent vacancy had over 60 applicants; the successful applicant was chosen only because she was “actually” homeless, rather than “imminently” homeless.

“I actually think it is the role of government in particular to make sure that there is a place for women who've been caregivers or who've had a conventional life, contributed to our community in an unpaid role and now find themselves with no safe place to call home,” Ms Crimmins said.

“We are still trying to understand what the commitment was to older women in the budget. We have been told it is not more beds, that it is for support services. There is a point in providing outreach when you're homeless, but as an older woman, housing must come first, before you can really get support services. We're not talking about people at the pointy end who you see rough sleeping, who might have drug and alcohol issues.”

Ms Cook said she hoped none of the women she met would ever have to experience a refuge like she did.

“There were people who'd had a privileged upbringing, and it's even harder for them to face not having anywhere safe to be,” she said.

“My life has a huge story, and there were lots of trials and tribulations which hardened me, and I became stronger through my journey, but I can't imagine someone who’s just come out of a bad situation into something which could seem worse.”