At 73, Edith* should have been enjoying her retirement. Instead, she found herself homeless, living in a campervan in isolated bushlands with no electricity or running water.
“It was the first time in my life I was actually frightened,” she shares. “It’s a sense of hopelessness. You don’t know what to do or where to go. If it wasn’t for Uniting … I don’t know what I would have done.”
Recovering from a stroke, Edith was unable to afford a private rental and struggled to pay for her basic needs. Her age and poor health made the harsh realities of homelessness even more challenging.
“Those gale force winds and the floods and just the hopelessness … I’m going to cry … I don’t want that kind of life for anybody.”
Uniting’s Street2Home team in Ballarat found Edith while doing outreach work in the region. Operating across the Ballarat and Wimmera regions, the teams actively go out into the community, seeking those in need of support who are sleeping rough, living in their cars or experiencing instability without a permanent home.
“I got to know them”, she shares. “They were so nice. They were compassionate. Nothing was any trouble. They were always offering me something. Sometimes food or comfort. They gave me a lot of hope.”
Six months later, the Street2Home team found Edith a home.
“I cried,” shares Edith. “I was just so happy. I cried over everybody’s shoulder. I was just so relieved. The weight just left me. Starting at the top of my head, going right down through my legs to my toes.
“To think that I no longer had to worry about wind, rain, cold, heat. The fear of the unknown, of the future. It had gone. It was just pure bliss.”
Through Street2Home, Uniting helped Edith with rental bond payments, moving costs and furniture. It has now been three months since Edith moved in.
“I’m so happy,” she says. “I thought that I would have to wait another seven years to get a home. I get up every morning, and I look out my back window … and I go, ‘oh thank God.’ That’s all I say, ‘Thank God for Uniting’.”
Uniting’s Street2Home team rely on donations to cover the full costs of delivering services for people like Edith. A gift to Uniting’s Winter Appeal will help the Street2Home team provide support like emergency food, housing costs and being a trusted friend when times get tough.
*Edith has generously shared her story. Her name and image have been changed to respect her wishes and protect her safety.
