LIKE many grandmothers, she wakes with the sun at 5am.

Only, she has slept on Platform 1 at Central Station with newspaper keeping her warm and she is only up so early because she's being moved on.

If she's lucky, they'll give her a free coffee down on the corner. She will eat from a van, and head to a women's place in Kings Cross during the day - but she can't sleep there. Between 3pm and 4pm, she will ring every place she knows looking for a bed for the night.

If she can't get one by 4pm. She is back at Platform 1.

VIKKI CAMPION - RUIN AND DESPAIR JUST ONE STEP AWAY

She remembers how she once had a beautiful family, and reflects on how easily it can be destroyed.

This is the day in the life of a homeless woman in Sydney. Every afternoon searching for a bed, in a city with not enough women's refuges, sleeping in train stations and parks.

Judy Hill had lived in the suburbs with a beautiful family, and never thought she would be homeless.

But by 47, after some hard decisions and "a toss-up between turning my back on somebody or helping them", she found herself on the streets after losing her home trying to help her own child.

"I believe someone has to be there for somebody - I believe that. They needed my help, they got my help," she said.

She had nowhere to go, and no one to call, not even for a favour or a $5 note. She lived that way for 22 years.

"The Big Issue came and asked if us girls wanted to sign up, they had a magazine they were thinking of getting mailed out. I gave them my phone number. I thought, this is a joke, they won't ring I looked like... well, homeless," she said.

"I didn't want to wash, I didn't want to eat, I was dirty, I had no purpose in life.

"Anyway they rang. I went to the first shift how I was and I walked out of there going "Jeez I'm not stupid, I can do this. What am I going to wear on my next shift?"

Ms Hill will celebrate her 68th birthday in a few weeks, with a roof over her head, and a part-time job with Big Issue.

media_camera The Big Shift at Macquarie Group packing the Big Issue with homeless women. Adriana Witowski, centre, packs the magazine.

"That's how it all started, my confidence, my self-esteem, willingness to fight. I'm housed now, I have a relationship with my granddaughter now which I couldn't have done before. I had my first Christmas with her in 10 years last year. They have changed my life," she said.

Ms Hill said there were not enough refuges in Sydney, with victims of domestic violence often finding they had nowhere to go, and choosing a life of fear with a roof over their head, and that of their children, rather than joining the queue for a bed.

"It's scary, it's utterly scary. There is not enough places for women, there are only so many beds. I know women who stay in domestic violence because they have nowhere to take their children.It's just devastating," she said.

"I worry about the women, we need more women's refuges built. When women sleep on the street, you sleep in the same group, safety in numbers. The politicians go to sleep outs, with fancy sleeping bags. Go and rough it like we did, with newspaper, it's the best thing to keep you warm."

Today Show host Lisa Wilkinson urged people to talk about homelessness.

"You only need to tell one person, and if you tell the story properly, they will be inspired," she said.

Ms Hill said for $179 year, a subscription of The Big Issue gives one woman a job for a year as well as a network of referrals that save them from a life on the streets

"No one can say I will never be homeless. I didn't think I would be either," Ms Hill said.

Big Issue sales spokeswoman Sally Hines said the magazine also partnered closely with community agencies, building trust to help homeless women get access to new medication or a referral because their housing situation had become untenable, as well as giving them the confidence to move on to mainstream employment.

"It's whatever they want to make of it at the time. It's crazy that something as simple as giving someone a job can create that much change in someone's life. You don't need qualifications, or referees, you come in and are taken at face value. If you are happy to give it a go, we are happy to give you a go," she said.

"We have thousands of women in waiting lists that we could employ tomorrow - buy a subscription and we can do the rest. It's a good read. And at the same time you can create a job for someone."

Philanthropy Australia CEO Louise Walsh said females were better than males when it came to donating but called for technological advances to make it easier to donate, like in the UK and the US, where it can be as simple as pulling out your phone and adding $20 to the phone bill.

"If we don't have enough mechanisms for people they are not going to do it," she said.

Originally published as 'Find me at Platform one'