An alarming number of older women in Victoria are becoming homeless. Many are middle-class and reluctant to seek help.
It was hot water Joan Lansbury missed the most. If she felt some warmth in the kitchen tap she'd strip off and race to the shower, no matter the hour. "It didn't last long and you didn't know when the hot water was going to come on again," says Lansbury, 71.
Normally, she would fill the kitchen sink with water she had heated on the stove and sponge herself down. "Try that in the middle of winter. It's not much fun."
I don’t think I ever could see myself living on the street ... But the costs of living are so high that it really can happen to anyone.
That was 2012, and Lansbury was living in a rundown flat in Pascoe Vale, in Melbourne's north, with dodgy hot water, a leaky toilet and appliances that didn't work properly.
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"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."
