Given just four weeks’ notice to move out of their private rental, Gary, 72, and Sheila, 59, found themselves in a crisis.
Countless applications for private rentals were rejected, and they were not approved for retirement housing due to the short timeframe.
With few options available to them, the desperate couple even considered driving to New South Wales to live in their car near their daughter. However, due to Sheila’s health conditions they were advised it would only make matters worse, coupled with the fact they would no longer be on the list for community housing in SA.
“It was right on Christmas,” Sheila said. “Right at the eleventh hour AnglicareSA was able find us a hotel to stay in, we thought we were going to be living in our car the next day.
“Our daughter who was training to become a case worker had put us in touch with AnglicareSA and the Care Finder Program which helped us find somewhere to stay in an emergency and more than that, they then helped us find a safe place to call home.”
The Care Finder Program is an initiative of the Department of Health and Aged Care and funds a workforce of care finders to provide face-to-face support to help vulnerable older people navigate and access aged care.
AnglicareSA worked with the Adelaide North West Homelessness Alliance in sourcing funding for the couple and their small dog to live in a hotel where they spent the next three months living alongside other people experiencing homelessness.
Gary and Sheila were then able to be housed in a flat through Unity Housing.
“We can’t thank AnglicareSA enough,” Gary said. “We are so grateful for the support and advocacy provided to us during such a tough time.”
Now that they are housed, the Care Finder team has linked Gary in with carer support through Carers SA, while Sheila has been provided a worker to assist her with accessing the NDIS.
This, she said, meant she could focus on her health without the stress of facing homelessness.
“It was such a stressful time, we had our belongings in storage and nowhere to live. Now we are here, we are unpacking, and we can relax in our own home,” Sheila said.