A complex scenario!

Each year there is a constant demand for assistance from older women
who are facing homelessness and have been on a cycle of insecure homeless situations in shelters and staying with friends and families.

Or moving from one private rental to another as landlords decide to sell or to live there themselves. And if an older woman is on the very, very long public housing list, she must always remember to tell the Office of Housing that she has a new address. Or fall off the long list!

She needs to travel lightly as she tries to fit in somewhere ... trying not to wear out her welcome.

Where does dignity and respect feature in our Ozzie treatment of older women? HAAG tries to break the homeless cycle...

HAAG has applied to a number of Trusts to provide assistance to older women about their housing options.

And Caty Kyne is an older woman volunteer at HAAG who draws great pictures...see above...
and yours truly, the volunteer older webwoman tries to make it make sense to you all.

July 2007 - OLDER WOMEN AND HOMELESSNESS PROJECT

Housing for the Aged Action Group, Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged Program workers, have identified 70% of the older people who seek assistance are older women at risk of homelessness.

Three Philanthropic Trusts - the Mary Potter Foundation, The Sisters of Charity Foundation, and the Ian Potter Foundation have contributed funds to assist with the identification of the barriers which lead to homelessness.

Reasons for homelessness are varied, some include:

Tenants who are evicted.
Homelessness occurs with 60 days notice to vacate, due to landlords deciding to redevelop properties. Or adult children inheriting and then selling properties after the death of the elderly landlord parents. Often they have occupied a property for a long time (up to 40 years in our experience).

Tenants who are unable to continue to pay rent after death of spouse.
Frequently the surviving spouse finds themselves paying 90% or more of their pension costs and they go into financial crisis very quickly.

Breakdown of relationships as reasons of moving.
Parents frequently have sold their assets and invested them in their adults children's housing or business on the understanding that they will have a permanent home. When the relationship breaks down they are left with nothing. Often they have sold their household possessions. Frequently these older people experience high levels of family violence before they leave.

Homeless older women.
Women in this group generally have no assets, savings or household goods. They are generally unable to meet up front costs of renting a property. A significant proportion of this group comprise women who are fleeing violent relationships.

The current housing system and associated information is not always available and when it is, is often complex. Without the right information on where and how to access housing, people often become, or remain homeless.

By increasing access to information about housing options, HAAG aims to support the attempts of older women who rent their home to make informed decisions about how best to meet their accommodation needs.

The project will also undertake consultation with both groups and individual women, to develop the information into user friendly format. We plan to do this by gathering women's stories from them in a variety of locations such as Senior Citizen's Centre, clubs and local shopping centres.

We are interested in recording as many women's stories as possible during the project. If you or any one you know, has experienced housing difficulty, please contact Jenny or April at the office.