2023 CHRISTMAS APPEAL
"Quite simply I'm divorced and am still living, almost three years later, with my ex-husband because I can't afford to move out."
Rose* is nearing 70 years old. She has raised 4 children and worked extensively as a journalist and communications professional. She does not want to be the face of the housing crisis, or of domestic violence, but she also doesn’t want these issues to be unseen.
After years of surviving an abusive marriage, Rose ended her relationship, but still hasn’t been able to escape.
She will spend this Christmas in a home that is unsafe.
By donating to Anglicare's Christmas Appeal, you help our team provide connection, advice and advocacy to individuals like Rose, who are facing desperate circumstances through no fault of their own.
With little to no superannuation, due to the casual nature of her work and the time spent raising her children, Rose is up against the least affordable rental market in three decades**. She knows she’s not the only one.
“There will be a tsunami of women coming behind me, they may be in their 50s now, who have no superannuation and they won’t be able to afford housing. Where are they going to live?” she said.
Anglicare Financial Counsellor, Marisol Kroiter, has been meeting with Rose for almost a year, providing financial advice and supporting her to reach her goal of living independently.
“Rose is an amazing human being and an advocate for housing” said Marisol, “but even with her knowledge and abilities and her work experience, the amount of affordable or social housing in the Riverina region is so limited that she has no choice but to stay, as unsafe as that is, or be homeless.”
“We’re seeing many women in the same situation as Rose. With less earning capacity, these women receive less in superannuation and rising living costs mean they are increasingly vulnerable.”
With her current housing situation untenable, and unable to find an affordable rental, Rose was encouraged by Marisol to put her name down on the NSW Housing Register. “It was probably one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, the process of applying to get on the housing list”, she said. “I was in tears. It was hideous.”
The current wait time for social housing in the Riverina region is between 2-10 years.
Meanwhile, research shows that 42% of Specialist Homelessness Services clients are women experiencing violence, and that 1 in 4 women over the age of 15 has experienced violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner.***
With your support, Anglicare is doing what we can to aid the housing problem.
In August, Anglicare was able to purchase eight properties in Wagga Wagga, through the Department of Communities and Justice’s Community Housing Innovation Fund, to use for social and affordable housing. These units will support women, with or without children, who have been impacted by domestic or family violence.
Along with the units purchased in Wagga Wagga, Anglicare has purchased similar units in Goulburn and has others under construction in Yass.
We also continue to provide emergency food relief to a growing number of fully-employed individuals straining under high rental rates
“The units are filling a desperate need in the region”, said Kristy Daley, Anglicare Senior Manager of Community Services. “We are pleased to be able to offer an immediate solution to those in need.”
However, the number of people being impacted by rental stress and food costs keeps rising. It is your support that allows us to continue to meet the growing demand.
Anglicare offers a variety of emergency relief services; many receive little or no government funding.
Your donation means that our emergency relief services across the region – from the Riverina, to the NSW South Coast, Canberra and Western NSW – can continue to assist over 21,000 people every year. People like Rose.
