What friends are for

At 68 years old Pushpa received a Notice To Vacate order on her 1-bedroom rental property which she was paying $1400 per month, which was more than her aged pension. Pushpa said:
“My husband and I never had enough money to buy our own home, we always rented. The rent did not seem to be too much as we were managing with a good budget. But, when my husband passed away, I was left only with my aged pension and it was not enough for rent, not enough for utilities and often, not even enough for food. I was constantly struggling with my finances as I simply did not have enough to survive on my own. If my best friend Jossie were not there for me, I would have been homeless on the street.”

Pushpa was living in a private rental; therefore, she was ineligible for the highest Victorian Housing Registry (VHR) priority category. An outreach worker discussed her housing options. Pushpa was very flexible with property type and location, as long as it was in the Northern suburbs, as she wanted to be close to her best friend, Jossie. 

Pushpa’s priority VHR application was submitted 10 months after her initial contact. In late December, just before the festive season, our outreach worker received an email from a community housing provider about a vacant community housing property in Preston. It was the perfect property for Pushpa, but there was one major problem, her VHR application was awaiting assessment.

It is at times like these that we realise the importance of forming collaborative relationships with other service providers. We have a successful working relationship with Broadmeadows Housing Services where we were able to contact and ask them if they could assist with speeding up the process of processing Pushpa’s application so she would not miss out on a vacant unit. We sent the email to Broadmeadows Housing Services and Pushpa’s application was approved in early January. 

Our worker was able to process an application for the vacant unit in Preston which was then approved. Pushpa signed her lease the following week and moved in.

Access to affordable and appropriate housing can be life changing, particularly for older people such as Pushpa, who was facing extreme financial stress. Pushpa’s life changed for the better with the collaboration of services working together to assist our older residents to access affordable and appropriate housing options, in which we achieved for Pushpa. She has subsequently said: 

“ I love my unit, it is nice, cosy, affordable and very important to me that it is close to my friend Jossie, who is the most supportive person in my life. We thrive on strong relationships with each other. Such friendship gave us an outlet to share our problems, thoughts, and triumphs, and that is what Jossie means to me and what she always has been for me. It is important that we live as close as possible, so we continue to support each other. And for HAAG, I am thankful forever, so, thank you.”