Everyone deserves to feel safe and have a place to call home. But sometimes circumstances can threaten the roof over our heads and homelessness becomes a real threat– this was the case for Mary.
Mary* presented to Uniting in Barwon in an anxious state after receiving a demand notice for an overdue payment on significant maintenance repairs on her home. She had fallen into financial difficulty and was struggling to make ends meet – putting her and her young daughter at risk of losing the roof over their heads.
Mary tried to sort the issue out but had no success. The stress of the situation started to take its toll on Mary and her mental health started to deteriorate.
At this point, Mary reached out to the Uniting team for support, who talked about her options. The Uniting team was able to advocate on her behalf to explain her situation and arrange a payment schedule to ensure that she was able to keep a roof over her head.
Mary felt reassured and grateful for the assistance, as she was concerned that it would proceed to court, leading to more financial difficulties. Uniting continued to support Mary and her daughter with food vouchers, freeing up some of her income to cover her debt.
Those who come to Uniting (Vic.Tas) for support often say that a lack of affordable housing and tenancy issues impacts their ability to better their circumstances and work towards a positive future.
Uniting helps those experiencing and at risk of homelessness by providing tenancy assistance, transitional housing and accommodation, loans, material aid, mental health support and job and case management when it’s needed most.
Thanks to your donations, a $30,000 grant from The Give Where You Live Foundation to the Uniting Barwon Homelessness Program is helping find housing for people in the region experiencing homelessness and assisting those at risk of homelessness to maintain their accommodation by advocating on their behalf and providing specialist expertise.
*Name changed to protect privacy.