Sue* (not her real name) suffered the breakdown of a relationship, she lost her family home, and her old life. After finding herself on the streets for nearly a year, Sue found a home in a Sydney retirement village. This is a real story, shared by a real resident, who asked her real name not be shared.Â
In 2009, at 54 going on 55, Sue was living in a country town in rural New South Wales when her then husband locked her out of the family home.
With no money, no family nearby and no transport, Sue had to walk kilometres to the nearest town with undiagnosed spina bifida.
“When I came home, I slept outside of the house waiting for him to come back. When I realised he wasn’t coming back, I started walking to the closest town. That took me nearly four and a half weeks.” she said.
That walk took Sue to Richmond, in the Hawkesbury area of New South Wales.
“I had no money, no fixed address, so I couldn’t access Centrelink. I was living in a park with other people that were homeless. I remember huddling together with them at night for warmth.”
Sue spent eleven and a half months on the streets. In a last-ditch effort, she visited a solicitor in Richmond to finalise her divorce from her husband.
“The divorce all up cost me $45,000 with the solicitor’s fees. I got 21 per cent in the divorce.”
At the time, there was no one around to help. With that small kitty leftover from the divorce, Sue decided to spend her time volunteering while still technically homeless.
“A friend of mine that I was volunteering with, she was a carer at the time in a retirement village. She mentioned it to me, gave me some brochures and I thought that I’d quite like to live there.
“After going through these I said to the salesperson, look, I’m homeless so I’m not sure what my options are. The salesperson had a word with the owner of a unit that was for sale, and they said they were happy to let me rent the place instead of buy.”
Sue called up her brother who lent her the money to secure the accommodation, to get a car and some second-hand furniture to get her going.
After nearly a year on the streets, Sue had a roof over her head.
“I was relieved, very relieved, I had a place to live. I had to make new friends and a new life. I’m proud of myself, very proud of myself.”
Sue’s new life in her village is a world away from her experiences.
This is a difficult story to share. Australia’s older women are fast becoming the largest cohort of homeless Australians.
It is through sharing stories like this that we can bring the attention of Australians to this, looking broadly at what more we can be doing as a society.
We hope that this story helps our readers to understand the real and significant impact that our industry can make.