Ljuba's "Home at Last"

Ljuba Jovanovksa was 62 years old and was referred to us by a family violence worker at In Touch Multicultural Family Violence service. Ljuba came from overseas in 2011 and spoke little English, she was experiencing family violence perpetrated by her husband. In Touch assisted her with intervention orders and temporary accommodation. However, she was placed in a rooming house which was unsuitable for her both because of the accommodation type and because of the behavior of a number of other residents. During this time she also had to deal with her income being suspended by Centrelink. After 2 months of working with Ljuba she was housed in her new home. Here our some of her comments on her journey to safe housing.

What was the hardest thing to deal with?

"Having to leave my home and then live in a shared situation with strangers. The whole time I stayed there I didn’t feel safe and I barely slept. The rooming house I was placed in was on the outskirts of Melbourne and I found this very difficult. I really missed the supports I had in my local area and found it difficult to get to the many appointments I needed to have at this time. I was very worried about how long I would have to stay in that temporary arrangement and this only added to the health problems I was experiencing."

How do you feel now?

"I think I have a long way to go to recover from the trauma I have experienced but I am feeling very happy and safe in my new home. Moving to my unit I feel like I have a new start at life. My unit is very nice and I have been able to set it up just as I like. I have been able to establish a garden out the front and back of the unit, I have planted it out with vegetables and flowers and it is now looking very attractive. Many people stop out the front and comment on how wonderful it looks. This has been a nice way of meeting neighbours. I work in my garden everyday and I am finding this very therapeutic."