Good morning.
May you please post this for me? I would be forever grateful 🙏
Hello fellow IM's.
A bit of a back story:
It is with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart that I type this. I lost my business due to Covid. I was a birth worker, and disability carer.
After the suicide of my best friend, and receiving stillborn babies, I turned to alcohol, quite heavily. I couldn't pay my rent, so I found myself living in my car, which has since been repossessed. I've been couch surfing for 5 months, all options have now been exerted. I was once a very successful business woman, I now find myself sleeping in a swag or in refuges (which is where my financial assistance goes) and going to meal banks.
My beautiful children now live with their father, I miss them terribly. My phone has been cut off due to bills unpaid, credit card companies were chasing me, now can't contact me.
My question is, how can I get back on track? I need my car in order to work. I can't work from home as I don't have one, I don't have stable accommodation so I never know where I'll be.
I've heavily considered ending my life, but I can't do that to my children.
Is bankruptcy something to consider? If so, where do I go from there?
I'm so lost.
Thank you for reading, any advice will be amazing 🙏
5 Replies
I assume alcohol is no longer a problem? If it is, you will need to deal with that first. You are still able to work if you are near public transport but start with applying for anything within walking distance. Take anything that is offering full time hours and keep the goal of house in mind so you can have your kids again and then worry about your car. You can still apply for bankruptcy assuming you have considerable debt. I'm not sure how you would go about it but look for charities that offer financial advice. This is your rock bottom, you can get out of this!
Can you go to your ex partner, the kids father and sit with him and go through ways to get through this with his help. Putting the kids best interests first. This is very sad. I hope you ex is understanding and you can get through this with his support. I would start with getting your love of life back and your job. You have to try your hardest to get back to what you love doing. You need to see a psychologist too and heal from your trauma. If you could find yourself some work, it would be a start to help you get back on track and back to the happy mummy that you once were. Keep looking for postitives in each day. Do this for yourself and your kids.
Ring centrelink and ask to speak to a social worker. Yes bankruptcy is prob your best Option. try and find a granny flat somewhere which is a start and a job. Things will get better. It takes time
Disability support workers are in high demand. If you have the correct qualifications, getting work should be easy. They are also consistantly short of people who can do sleepover shifts, that would provide you with a bed often. Mail can be delivered consistantly to a local post office and a mobile phone can be purchased for around $30. Try some of your local disability support services for work, perhaps you can find something within walking distance to where you need to be. Rent a room, granny flat or caravan until you get on your feet. Contact any and all homelessness supports in your area.
Don't give up, your babies need you.
There are services call financial counsellors. Centrelink has them and places like the salvos have them. They can talk your through your options and wether bankruptcy is for you.
Ask to speak to a Centrelink social worker to see what they suggest.
I’m not going to lie, but breaking the cycle of homelessness is hard. People make it sound easy but it’s actually really expensive being homeless, making it hard to get up.
Start contact dry out facilities if alcohol is still an issue. They can sometimes link you to other services. It’s important to make sure you get your drinking under control.
My knowledge of the disability industry is pretty in-depth. The vast majority of jobs you require a car these days so you can drive clients. But, there are still jobs in ‘sheltered employment’ and day options programs: those jobs, you don’t need a car, you do need to be able to get there. That would be what I was looking out for, work wise and could be the stepping stone you need.