‘The author of my own life’: How Australia’s Head Start Homes uses AI to help people realize their dream of home ownership
Kamini is still amazed by the everyday comforts of home – the cool of her first air conditioner on a hot Australian day, the bathtub she loves to soak in, quiet mornings drinking coffee in her own kitchen.
For decades, her life was unstable and chaotic. She moved 23 times, her son attending 10 different schools. She lived in subsidized housing – sometimes near neighbors with mental health issues – had bouts of homelessness and dealt with numerous evictions.
“It was really hard, having to just pack up all the time,” says Kamini, whose last name is being withheld for privacy reasons. “There were new communities, new people, new schools. I was just trying to fit in and have a life and be a decent parent.”
But in her early 50s, Kamini achieved something she never thought possible – she bought her first home. With the support of Head Start Homes, a nonprofit organization in Australia that helps people transition from social housing into home ownership, Kamini navigated the intimidating process of saving, learning about financial literacy and buying a place she could finally call her own.
In Australia, social housing is subsidized rental accommodation for people with low incomes that is managed by state governments or nonprofit organizations.
In April 2024, Kamini moved into her airy two-bedroom apartment in a Sydney suburb that had everything on her wish list: a brick exterior and retro vibe, trees and nearby parks, access to public transit, a bathtub.
“It’s surreal. I’m still getting used to it,” she says. “I get up, make my coffee, make my toast with Vegemite on it. I’m getting into a routine of self-determining my day. It’s mine.
“I’ve always felt like my narrative was written by someone else. Now I’m the author of my own life.”
Head Start Homes was launched in 2017 with a groundbreaking solution that allows it to act as a loan guarantor for its clients, eliminating the need for a down payment that can make home ownership an impossibility.
Under the arrangement, Head Start Homes provides 20% of the loan value in cash that sits in a term deposit account with the bank as security. When the value of the home is 20% greater than the loan balance, the money in the account goes back to Head Start Homes to help other clients.
Using Microsoft’s AI tools to streamline operations and carve out more time for client-focused work, Head Start Homes has so far helped 32 individuals and families buy their first homes, in turn freeing up critically needed space in social housing.
For example, after Head Start Homes’ first client bought a house, her social housing became available for a previously homeless mother, who moved in and could be reunited with her five children.
“When we’re helping people out of social housing, we’re always having a ripple effect by helping two families at once,” says Stephen Woodlands, Head Start Homes founder and managing director, who was recently featured in Microsoft’s Changemaker series.
“In many cases it’s a triple benefit – the new owner builds stability and wealth, a social or affordable rental is freed for another household in need, and the broader system saves on the escalating costs of homelessness and crisis support.”
Disrupting the system
Woodlands knows firsthand the trauma of housing instability. When he was 3 years old, his mother took Woodlands and his two siblings and fled a difficult situation.
The family went to an emergency shelter, then experienced years of housing instability that included couch-surfing, transitional housing and social housing. Woodlands’ mother, a nurse who later became a social worker, tried to save for a down payment on a home. But the more she made, the more she paid in rent.
“Mom couldn’t get ahead,” Woodlands says. “Her rent went up to market rent, which meant she had no extra income, so she could never save for a deposit.”
The unfairness of the situation stuck with him. Woodlands grew up, became an attorney and had a successful career in banking, holding senior roles at one of Australia’s largest banks. But he kept thinking about his mother, how she struggled and the ways social housing, though a vital safety net during times of crisis, can keep people stuck.
In 2014, Woodlands decided to put together a business plan for Head Start Homes, focusing on creating inclusive pathways to home ownership for people in social housing – particularly single parents, First Nations people, households with disabilities, migrants and refugees.
The notion of a nonprofit – not a parent – acting as guarantor for a first-time homebuyer was initially met with skepticism.
“People would say, ‘This is insane,'” Woodlands recalls, laughing. “My motto was, I’m going to keep doing it until someone tells me it can’t be done. I’m not going to listen to ‘it’s too hard,’ because we heard that all the time.”
Woodlands eventually got banks on board, thanks to his connections and financial expertise. But it was no small feat.
“There were a lot of regulatory hurdles,” he says. “Getting the bank to enter into an agreement with an organization that’s just being created, to do a new product offering that had never been done before, it was a completely new way of doing things.”
Once the model was in place, Woodlands reached out to community housing providers and tenancy managers to find clients, people like his mother who were in social housing and wanted a home of their own.
“There was excitement about an organization that’s being bold and wanting to disrupt the system and say, ‘Why can’t we do this? Why shouldn’t people on lower incomes have the same access to home ownership as more wealthy Australians’?” Woodlands says.
“Our purpose has always been to put people before property, to design pathways where empowerment comes first so buying a home is safe, sustainable and life-changing. By staying true to purpose, it was easy to win hearts and meet people who believed in what we were trying to do.”
For people in social housing, Woodlands says, moving to a private rental is often precarious because Australia’s private rental market doesn’t offer long-term stability. Landlords can terminate leases, often without cause and with little notice, leaving low-income tenants scrambling to find other housing.
“A key motivating point for our clients is they’re breaking out of systems that keep them locked in and feeling trapped and hopeless. Home ownership offers a pathway to empowerment, hope and financial independence,” he says.
Before long, Head Start Homes had its first client, an Aboriginal single mother who was previously homeless and never imagined owning her own home. Head Start Homes helped her set up a savings plan, and in 2020 she bought a house, giving her three children a permanent home for the first time in their lives.
‘A life administrator’
Like many nonprofit organizations, Head Start Homes’ employees wear many hats, and they rely on Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline workflows, improve communications and free up time for working with clients.
“Copilot gives us more time and resources for clients,” says Woodlands, who regularly uses the AI assistant to draft emails, summarize documents and write papers and reports. “Without it, we’d be bogged down in admin. It helps us focus on what truly matters – our clients and our communities.”
Woodlands recently used Researcher, an AI-powered agent within Microsoft 365 Copilot, to gain a clearer understanding of some major housing reforms, enabling Head Start Homes to be responsive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
“That research would have cost us dearly if we’d gone to an external consultant. As a nonprofit, we simply don’t have the budget for that,” he says.
Natasha Kahn, Head Start Homes secretary, uses Copilot to draft team communications, announcements and social media posts, and to quickly locate emails and documents. On Tuesdays, when the team typically has back-to-back meetings, Kahn and others rely on Copilot to generate Teams transcripts and identify action items, eliminating the need for manual notetaking.
“It’s become an essential part of my workflow every day,” she says.
Jo Formosa, a founding executive of Head Start Homes, initially resisted using Copilot, concerned that it would dilute her writing style or “take the human out of the job.” She hesitantly gave it a try, quickly became a convert and now uses Copilot to finesse the client stories, reports and discussion papers she writes.
“It’s like a life administrator. It’s a tool that supports the work we do,” she says. “If it went down, I think I’d cry.”
Support at every step
Kamini’s journey to home ownership began during the pandemic, when she discovered Head Start Homes on social media. Its purpose of helping people move out of social housing and buy their own homes resonated deeply with her. She reached out to the organization, retrained as a teacher and started a savings plan.
But the process was anxiety-inducing, and she worried about losing her job or making a mistake. Head Start Homes provided steady support.
“Every single step was challenging and scary,” she says. “If I didn’t have that support, I wouldn’t have done it.”
The organization’s work goes beyond just helping people buy homes. The broader goal, Woodlands says, is to empower people to break cycles of disadvantage by addressing three major barriers to home ownership: a deposit, the challenge of finding affordable housing and what’s often the biggest one, lack of knowledge.
“Normally, you learn how to buy a home from your parents,” Woodlands says. “If your family’s never done it before, you likely don’t even know where to start. On top of that, you probably won’t trust a bank or other organizations because you haven’t really dealt with them before. So there’re a lot of really big barriers there.”
Clients are supported by a team of specialists, starting with a designated social worker who remains with them throughout the process, whether that’s months or years.
“What’s really important for our clients is that they have one person they can go to if they’re feeling overwhelmed or have questions,” Woodlands says. “That’s so important to overcome the knowhow barrier, but also to build trust.”
Financial specialists teach clients about budgeting and saving, helping them build long-term financial literacy. Once clients are ready – a determination made by a Head Start Homes panel – they’re referred to specialist bankers and to property coaches who help them find the right home at the right price.
That approach is unique, says property coach Rhiannan Jenkins, who has worked with several Head Start Homes clients.
“There are government schemes, but there’s no one to actually help people and support them in that end-to-end process,” she says. “It’s one of a kind, and they’re really pioneering this space. They have such a passion and drive for what they’re doing. I think they’re phenomenal.”
The experience of buying a home is life-changing for the clients she’s worked with, Jenkins says.
“It has a really profound impact,” she says. “It gives them a sense of autonomy and really boosts their confidence. It creates this sense of positivity, like, I’ve achieved this big milestone in my life. What else can I do?”
Property coach Amanda Gould has also worked with several Head Start Homes clients, all of them first-time homebuyers. She advises what’s possible within their budgets, helps them avoid costly mistakes and negotiates on sales price and terms.
“Having somebody by their side to empower them helps them make the right decisions,” she says.
One Head Start Homes client Gould worked with was the first in her family, across generations, to buy her own home.
“For a lot of people who have grown up in social housing, that’s all they’ve ever known. They’ve never even thought about buying their own house,” she says. “So it’s breaking that intergenerational mindset and showing that it is actually possible.
“It’s not just having a roof over their heads – they’re building wealth for themselves and their families over generations.”
Becoming a homeowner, Woodlands says, provides much more than a safe place to land. It brings a sense of identity, of community, of finding one’s place in the world.
“Everyone wants to feel like they belong,” he says. “And our clients, through this journey, feel like they belong.”
Top photo: Head Start Homes’ Jo Formosa (left), Kate Fenton and Stephen Woodlands look at wallpaper samples with first-time homebuyer Kamini. (Photos courtesy of Head Start Homes)