Housing

All posts tagged Housing

Opening Doors

Published August 16, 2021 by helentastic67

Opening Doors

Yesterday I went to the launch of a project I helped with called Opening Doors.  I’ve shared the website in the past but in case you missed it.  Home – Opening Doors

I met an advocate there, who deals with people who may be in crisis situations and they become her clients. Example: Couple about to take a newborn baby home where they are living in a brother’s garage. They already have a 4-year-old who is in preschool and because I asked questions, you would imagine they could just move into a room inside the house, so what’s the issue?  They already have three generations living inside the house, twenty people so, no they are stuck in the garage. The top number one question they would get asked. Are you on the public housing list?

Anyone who is on that list, asks when will they get a home?  How long is a piece of string? That is a list you need to be on, but it doesn’t guarantee you will get anything.

So, the significance of one’s home is even more important to anyone with a disability.  It’s a place to be safe, to keep one’s precious things, to build important memories, to regroup at the end of the day, to replenish energy, to sleep. Then to get up the next day ready to fight another day.

So, in short, keeping this in mind,

·         Brain injury: 47 years

·         Moved out of home at 19 years

·         Moved lots until 30 years

·         Diagnosis of ABI at 34 years

·         Since treatment at 30 years, onset of severe disability where I can no longer work and need care.

·         Have moved: 4 times!

Keeping in the back of your mind, I had a boyfriend, sorry I thought I had a boyfriend when I first developed my disability. I digress or context done.

As I mentioned my situation to the advocate, how many times I’d had to move since my disability and while in comparison to her clients with the new born baby, I had told a friend that finding decent housemates since my disability had been like getting my heart, soul and wallet robbed by complete strangers. A friend had bitched to me when he had his disability, he had, had to give up his awesome housemates and he couldn’t understand why I had not been more empathetic towards him.

So, I pointed out, while I’d moved four fucking times and had lived by myself for seven years or more, renting. His family bought him a fucking house!  Now admittedly his house is in the outer suburbs, he owned the house. No renting.

and now 10-15 years later, he’s moved into an apartment in Abbotsford where he can walk to the city and he still thinks I should be all empathetic towards his plight.

Sound bitchy don’t I?  Yeah, the inner bitch comes out occasionally.

Grumpy

Published March 26, 2018 by helentastic67

Grumpy

Grumpy

I need to have a grumpy rant!

So, if you can’t cope, skip this post now, but if you can hang in there, it might give you some understanding of why I swear in my posts so much.

Grumpy rant

That said, you should be prepared for some F*** Bombs. I’m currently house hunting, AGAIN!

F Bomb

I know, I know, I’ve lived here for four years, which in the last twenty-five years is my limit and I’ve only lived in four houses for four years each, so you can imagine the rest of that time I’ve bounced around a bit.

Four years

I‘ve been meaning to write about how I’ve been preparing to say goodbye to my friends. My friends being the five or so carers. I’m about to lose because I’ve now got the NDIS and I’ve got to start using my funding through an Agency and then there’s the painful process of “Training” new girls.

Saying Goodbye

I’ve had to implement “Grumpy Helen” to do this, I am hating the “System” I live in where, if you fit some particular criteria, you get funding and assistance thrown at you.

Let me give you an example:

Are you Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?
Are you a refugee?

Hear me when I say, I appreciate why refugees need assistance, however, WHAT ABOUT ME?

What about me

I mean and they advertise assistance for these groups and so on. I have been told by people (carers) that they have other clients who live in private rental and when I ask how, they can’t tell me.

Expensive housing

I rang a few places a few years ago that were recommended to me and no one could assist me. Today I sat with my CM (Case Manager) Dave and he told me of a “thing” for want of a better word, it is an organisation and acts similarly to a Real Estate agent and they have properties cheaper than the private rental market.

Housing

Ok, all the properties are miles from me or anywhere I need to live, however maybe I can have my property added to this program? Who funds this scheme? DHS

This is another Government Agency – called already. Department of Human Services, who manage Public Housing.

Public Housing

So how come, if they find all these other agencies to deliver programs and dole out assistance – how come no one could would tell me about this scheme?

I noticed with some regret, I am yet to swear in this post, that I promised or suggested it was likely I would swear. So, allow me to remedy that.

Swearing

FUCK! FUCK! FUCKETY! FUCK!

Fuck

Sigh, that feels better.

And I’m back.

I’ve found something fun to do in my neighbourhood, that is an evening thing. In my neighbourhood and I can’t find anyone to go with me. It would seem everybody else gets funded to do ‘fun-things’.  I can’t and I can’t even find a friend to go with me, am I going to have to pay a carer to go?

Fun things

Oh that “event” is Midge nMe from Ultravox. For those who need Google and Wiki, I’ll help by sending you back to the 80’s and mentioning Synth-Pop and if your parents don’t cope with your music taste, they would probably cope with Ultravox.

Ultravox

OK, feel like I’ve maybe mentioned this before, but just in case, caught up with a Numpty-friend late last year. That translates to another friend with an ABI.

I mentioned another Numpty-friend had gotten into Public Housing in my old suburb. This is when I get livid to the agency of Public Housing in that neighbourhood. I outright call them liars, as I had been opposite some Public Housing and I knew there was new Public Housing this other person had been accepted to. The friend I was with told me the lucky person had been bragging a few years ago that they’d bought a house. So how did they qualify for Public Housing?

Numpty

OK, I miss “cable internet”, I don’t know if I need to say anything else on this to pick. The house I rented before here, I was offered Cable Internet as it was available in that area. Is that a stupid question? So, I got it.

Cable internet

I lived there for fourteen months, beautiful house. Needed a housemate who could pay half the rent and I held in there as long as I could and that’s why I moved here. No housemate required. I’m sure you feel my pain.

Feel my pain

After going out to my kitchen to cook dinner at about 10pm, I noticed a huge light in the sky. OMG it’s a full moon.

That Mother Nature has a lot to answer for.

Mother Nature

 

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