Hello! My name is Jameson Henderson Redden, and I am a 2025 alumni of the Jeff Bleich Centre’s Washington Internship Program, where I interned for Congressman Vicente Gonzalez Jr. While interning on Capitol Hill, I often worked closely with my congressman’s health policy advisor and witnessed first-hand the ongoing impacts of homelessness and poverty in the congressman’s district.
When I returned home, the experienced I had gained from assisting with legislative research and bill memorandums regarding health and homelessness policy in my congressman’s district provided me the opportunity to work as an intern for six months in the South Australian Department of Human Services. Specifically I had the exiting opportunity to intern in DHS’s Homelessness Systems and Partnership team, as part of an ongoing sister program initiative organised by the JBC.
As an intern, I was tasked with assisting with the preparation and editing of Ministerial briefings to the South Australian Minister for Human Services regarding homelessness and also got to see first-hand how the South Australian government operates to deliver assistance and services to homeless individuals.
Once I had settled in, I was assigned an ongoing long-term project to work on in the office, that not only provided me with the autonomy and flexibility to work on a project that I had relevant experience in from the U.S. but also had the potential to change lives.
For the six months I interned at DHS, I was tasked with creating four infographic style posters directly targeted at assisting homeless and at-risk of homelessness individuals. The four posters were to be designed for four different demographics. Homeless and at-risk of homelessness individuals, people who might know someone who is homeless, industry professionals who may have a client or patient who they suspect may be homeless (such as support workers and nurses) and youth aged homeless people. One of these posters would be presented and distributed at Homelessness Australia’s Homeless Awareness Week in August 2026. Subsequently, the posters were likely to be distributed throughout the Adelaide CBD and metropolitan Adelaide to assist and inform the four target demographics of how they can best help and assist someone who is homeless.
At first, this task seemed quite daunting! But I soon learned that the Homelessness Systems and Partnership team is filled with friendly and knowledgeable teammates who are eager to assist in any way they can to combat homelessness here in South Australia. The project allowed me to engage with organisations and individuals throughout SA that exist solely to reduce homelessness such as Homeless Connect SA, disability inclusion officers and St Johns Youth Services. The project required a lot of careful planning and research to ensure that the phrasing and language used was clear, respectful, inclusive and most importantly, helpful.
After six months of research everything there is to know about homelessness in South Australia and across the globe, drawing on my experience from the U.S. and consulting with the leading professionals in South Australia regarding homelessness, I produced four draft infographics. The poster seen below – following some editing and final adjustments from the HSP and Communications and Engagement team – will be distributed during Homelessness Awareness Week in August 2026. It will also be displayed on the Department of Human Services website to assist and advise homeless people, and people who know someone who is homeless, how they can best support and assist in combatting homelessness!
