Client's Stories

Marie was 81-year-old and  living is a very dishevelled, 120 year old cottage. She was renting for a number of years and had paid for things to be done on the cottage herself, as the landlord did not want to spend the money. She was understandable very worried she would get blown away in the next big storm, the cottage was very unsafe.

In October 2020 we received an My Aged Care (MAC) referral from Brimbank Council Regional Assessment Service (RAS) for Sue, a 72 year-old woman living in private rental in
the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Selma is a 63-year-old woman originally from Bosnia (former Yugoslavia).  Along with her family and many others, Selma was forced to seek refuge in other countries for safety.

This is a story of two of our Home at Last clients, sisters, Khanma, 63, and Rishwina, 60, from Assyrian background and came to Australia from Syria as refugees. They have very limited English therefore we used an Assyrian interpreter. They have been living in a privately rented property since arriving in Australia, assisted by the Refugee Settlement Program.

EMMA, 53 years old, moved to Victoria after being assaulted in Townsville, a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland. She was sharing accommodation but after the assault she decided to move to the Barwon Region where she is originally from. The assault impacted her life, and Emma developed fears to find new accommodation.

Vesna became homelessness after her private rental property became far too expensive on her income and it was no longer a viable option as a single person. Private rental was far too unaffordable even with the part-time employment she had at the time. She had little choice but to leave her tenancy and live between the homes of friends and relatives on a temporary basis.

This is a story of one of our Home at Last clients, Alma Diri.  Alma, 74, first approached Home At Last about 9 years ago. Following her divorce from her partner, Alma lived with her daughter for some time. However, she had to leave her daughter’s place and look for alternative accommodation to continue living independently.

On midnight, Monday the 30th March 2020, Stage Three restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19, started in Victoria. Victorians were given a clear and simple message: “Stay home to Protect Yourself and the Victorian Health Care System”. For homeless people, this order to stay home, was almost impossible to adhere too.

Hi my name is Jo. In 2012 I had an open heart surgery. When I recovered I got a job as a bus driver. But I couldn't concentrate so I had to quit. I was unemployed for a while and became very depressed and went into anxiety and was mentally disturbed. My marriage wasn't working and its was really  tense in the house I was renting my eldest son’s house and he kicked me out.

Jey is a 57 year old woman from China. She dropped in to our service in May 2019. During the intake assessment, we communicated through a mandarin interpreter via the VITS services.  At the time of the drop-in she was couch-surfing at  a friend’s house, who had then asked her to leave as she could not keep assisting her any further.

Franco and Joyce, a couple in their late fifties, were referred to Home At Last  for housing assistance after receiving 60 days Notice to vacate from their land lord.

Jimmy is in his 80’s. He lived in a rundown caravan park for 30 years in a freezing/boiling caravan, traipsing to the communal toilet every night, until finally being forced out when the park was being 'upgraded' to 'boutique living'.

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