Jo-anneJoySenior Contributor
I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings; I've done all the thumb dings...
Just parking all my info under this one banner so I can keep tabs on me self.
Hello everyone,
I've been living with varying degrees of agoraphobia and panic attacks since 1989 and, right now, I'm looking down the barrel of homelessness after drawing the short straw with my rental property being sold in mid-February and the new owner not open to extending my 60 days notice. Have to be out on 28 April. I'm over-55 and have no family whatsoever. Was going
to be a difficult move in the first place, but the lock-down has raised the ante with being
able to connect with support agencies. After a lifetime of being resourceful and always
managing to pull myself away from the ragged edge of disaster, now I am starting to
feel like I'm all out of moves. For years now, whenever I talk to somebody on the phone or in person, the focus is on what I can't do, what I don't have, what I can't afford and how restricted and limited my choices are - I am looking forward to being on the other side of this phase of homelessness and being assisted into a 'forever home'. Just right now, it's *gulp* and you know, wake me up when its over! I've been sorting and packing up for weeks now and that has been triggering memories of past trauma and flying monkeys ... and auuggggghhh!!
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Thanks @NatureLover @Maggie and @Wenna for the welcome.
As I was chasing the dust bunnies under the bed this afternoon the thought came to me to have another chat to the property agent and request he mediate with the new owner so I can get an extension until 8 May.
Don't ask, don't get.
I look forward to the time when I can put aside the need to come up with strategies to keep myself safe. Hasn't been that great where I have been for 14 years and everyone else has moved out, as the whole complex was sold, so there are layers of loss. A quirky fact about me : I'm the last resident tenant here who knows where all the cats are buried and their names.
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Reply to Maggie and NatureLover (14 April 2020)
..... because my rental property was sold (along with other units in the complex) ... and vacant possession is a condition of the settlement, it's not an eviction for rent arrears.
It's one of these scenarios where people go "oh....I haven't heard of that before". This morning I put my case to the property agent and outlined what the scenario was going to be if my request for an extension was knocked back.
Last night, I learned about a crowd in Victoria (Anika Legal) that provide free online legal services for tenants experiencing disadvantage during this time and have contacted them.
First 30 years of my life, I was caregiver to parents with severe and persisting mental illness and war trauma and I struggle with boundaries and taking care of myself. It's how I'm hardwired; the perfectionist, purple polka-dot people-pleasing thing that can't be in the driver's seat right now.
As I was surfing around this forum with all it's lovely click bait to other resources, came to a page with a review of a recently published book titled We Are Here, Stories of Home, Place and Belonging with this quote that helps me to keep it all in perspective and not go slide into the swamp of internalised stigma.
Meg Mundell’s Introduction tells us that the stories in this collection reveal just how easily, if our own luck turned bad, we might find ourselves unhoused. (p.xiii) She also tells us that
Homelessness is often seen as a result of bad choices made by flawed people. This convenient myth supports the illusion that it could never happent to ‘us’, ignoring the well-documented structural causes and unforeseen life events that can render people homeless. These include a dire national shortage of social and affordable housing, punitive welfare policies, inadequate social security, poverty, unemployment, rental stress, gentrification, family violence, sexual abuse, discrimination, injury, disability, mental illness and traumatic incidents. (p.xiv)
(anzlitlovers.com)
Let the good times roll....
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So .... I didn't get the extension that I requested (boo hiss).
As I am placing items outside for a scheduled hard rubbish removal, the word has gone out on the grape vine that there are freebies available at Jo's place. Every morning I wake up, take a look and it is like the elves have been and the pile is getting smaller.
Six more sleeps.....
