She Met Him on Her Morning Dog Walk, Sleeping in a Beach Tent. Then She Bought Him a Caravan.
Dorothy Maafu, a Rosebud, Victoria, resident, befriended Jake Dell'Aquila while walking her dog past the tent where he slept with his German shepherd on the Rosebud foreshore. She bought him a second-hand caravan and booked him into caravan parks for six months. He now has work and a safe rental home.
Just News Desk, Correspondent||3 min read
ROSEBUD, Australia - By the time Dorothy Maafu met him, Jake Dell'Aquila had been sleeping in a tent on a Melbourne beach for months. Each evening he unpacked his things and settled in with his German shepherd on the Rosebud foreshore; each morning he packed them up again. Ms. Maafu, who lived nearby, started to see him as she walked her own dog. What began as polite conversation ended with a second-hand caravan, six months of caravan park bookings and, for Mr. Dell'Aquila, a way back.
Mr. Dell'Aquila had been unhoused for more than a year, he told Mornings with Raf Epstein on 774 ABC Melbourne last week, in an interview reported by ABC News on Oct. 31.
"I'd tried everything," he said. "I'd tried all the resources. I'd tried the Salvation Army. I'd tried everything and nothing had worked."
The programs he tried, he said, offered no help because he had a dog.
The beach at Rosebud, Victoria, Nov. 13, 2007. Illustrative image of the Rosebud foreshore; it does not show Dorothy Maafu, Jake Dell'Aquila or his tent. Photo: Orderinchaos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rosebud_beach_2007_1.jpg
The two began talking on those cold mornings. After a while, the chats turned into an invitation to Ms. Maafu's home for meals and a shower.
"I wanted to understand what it was that drove him to the streets," she said. "From my own experience, homelessness isn't always about someone needing a roof over their head for one night. It's about giving people stability, dignity, and a chance to just get their lives back on track."
His road to the beach, the ABC reported, had involved cutting himself off from family and friends to escape dysfunction and abuse.
"At times it was very hard," Mr. Dell'Aquila said. "But I never gave up."
Some time after those first shared meals, Ms. Maafu went further. She bought a second-hand caravan and booked Mr. Dell'Aquila into caravan parks for the next six months.
"I haven't been able to solve everything, but knowing he has shelter rather than a broken tent means a lot to me," she said. "It was a tough road for both of us in just getting him stable."
The Bay Trail at Rosebud, Victoria, Sept. 28, 2019. Illustrative image of the Rosebud foreshore area; it does not show Dorothy Maafu or Jake Dell'Aquila. Photo: Philip Mallis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_Trail,_Rosebud.jpg
The stability allowed Mr. Dell'Aquila to find work and then a place in a safe rental property. He said Ms. Maafu would remain a lifelong friend.
"I wasn't being approached by anyone the way Dorothy approached me, and it was so moving and so powerful and so life-changing what she's done," he said. "I may not be in the situation I'm in now with my own house and stability and paying bills if it wasn't for that little kickstart that Dorothy helped me with."
Ms. Maafu said her decision surprised the people closest to her.
"My friends and family couldn't believe what I did. But if I don't do it, who else is going to do it?" she said. "I would do it all over again for another Mr. Dell'Aquila on the street."
"Just one person can make a difference in someone's life."
Sources: ABC News, "'Kickstart' gift helps Victorian man escape homelessness" (Oct. 31, 2026), reporting from Mornings with Raf Epstein on 774 ABC Melbourne, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-31/gift-helps-victorian-man-escape-homelessness/107328410
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