By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
BY the end of today, a Pakenham woman and her daughter will be homeless.
They will have their belongings moved into a storage facility, and with their two dogs and two cats, they will move into their car.
Christine – who chose not to reveal her surname to avoid jeopardising her chances of finding accommodation – has battled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety for most of her life.
The past year has also seen the death of her mother and a cervical cancer diagnosis.
Today she will be evicted from the Pakenham rental property where the pair have lived for more than three years, for no reason and with nowhere to go.
In February of this year, Christine was told by her Pakenham real estate agent that her landlord had decided to sell the property and she would need to find alternative accommodation.
“There were a number of pretty major issues with the house – there were electrical problems, the hot water system wasn’t accessible, the stove was faulty and the entire fence needed replacing,” Christine said.
“I think they just wanted to get rid of it.”
Since then, Christine and her daughter have applied to live in more than 20 homes in the Pakenham area but each application has been met with rejection.
Having always paid her rent on time and maintained the property with the utmost care, Christine is left at a loss as to why she is consistently rejected.
In her desperation, she has reached out to a number of community services seeking help, yet none have been able to offer any real assistance.
Cardinia’s 4C’s ‘House of Hope’ is a crisis accommodation home offering temporary shelter for families in crisis. The current family has been residing at the shelter for many months, making for one less option for other families in need.
Operations Manager Abiola Ajetomobi said it presented a difficult situation for the 4Cs.
“We can’t evict people from the House of Hope – that achieves nothing,” she said.
“We’re putting them under a lot of pressure to find other accommodation, but we won’t kick them out.”
She says the organisation has done as much for Christine and her daughter as it can, but its limited resources restrict its ability to help.
“We’ve tried to help as best we can, because our resources are very limited. We can provide them with a reference letter, which we’ve done.”
Christine also approached WAYSS – an organisation providing housing and support services in the community. Not only were they unable to help, but she found the experience to be demeaning.
“We were told that there was nothing they could do for us and walked to the door. Everything was a hassle. They didn’t even want to let us use their toilet.”
WAYSS were contacted for comment but declined, in the interests of client privacy.
She’s also tried the Pakenham Police station and office of the Minister for Housing – neither were able to help.
Christine is sharing her story in the hope that others will understand the real need to improve services for people in her situation.
“I was booked in to have a major bowel operation in early August but I’ve had to cancel, I’ve got no hope of a good recovery from in my car,” she said.
“This is homelessness in Pakenham. This is real and there is no-one who will help.”
