Nicole has been living on the streets with her teenage son for nearly two years.
She said living under a bridge near the Brisbane River was one of the few places authorities wouldn't move them on. Her son says he would rather be in prison because at least he would have food and a warm bed.
For months Nicole was sleeping on sheets on the ground but water would run off the bridge and wet her linen. She said she hides her belongings to prevent them being stolen but she has even had the shoes stolen off her feet while she slept.
"It's awful," she said.
She told ABC Radio Brisbane her biggest worry was for her 16-year-old son who has a disability.
"My son said, 'Mum, stuff it, I'm going to break the law because at least then I'll have a bed, a warm bed for the night and food and I won't have to walk around the streets looking for it'.
"We're all falling apart, we're broken and when you get into services, they just say, 'oh have you done this?' We're just jumping through hoops and that's all it is."
She said being homeless meant she had to wait until 7am to go to the toilet or 9am when the drop-in centre opened so she could eat.
"You know I'm falling apart and I'm trying to ask for help and they just look at you like you're a druggo.
"It's two years too long, I'm broken and I'm depleted."
Nicole is among about eight people currently living under the bridge.
Cecilia joined her about a week ago after living in a boarding house, and before that sleeping in her car.
She said she could no longer afford rent because she became unwell and since then has been "a bit lost".
"I feel like wanting to become a drug addict and alcoholic just so it can feel okay to live like this," she said.
"They just assume we're drug addicts because we look like this ... we just try to make sure we stay clean, so we don't get judged."
The Queensland government will hold a housing summit on Thursday, which aims to address critical housing issues, with nearly 46,000 people on the social housing register.
Cecilia said the summit needed to look at more than just how to feed people living on the streets but find solutions to get people into housing.
"They've asked us what we want and I say a home. That's it," she said.
Summit just the first step, peak body says
QShelter is among the stakeholder groups attending the summit.
The peak body's chief executive Fiona Caniglia said Nicole and Cecilia's stories demonstrated how exhausting and hard it was on the streets.
Ms Caniglia said she was encouraged by the opportunity the housing summit presented but a one-day summit was not long enough.
"The most important thing is to achieve a healthy housing system overall, where there is enough supply to meet demand," she said.
"Having enough supply to meet demand means that you see private rental vacancy rates somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent, instead of below 1 per cent."
