Client Stories
Some of the personal details of these stories have been changed to protect the privacy of the clients.
David
David, 40, and his two children, a 9 year-old daughter and 7 year-old son, were clients at Hanover Cheltenham.
When David first came to Hanover he had been awarded 25% custody of his children. In reality, David was caring for his children a lot more than 25% of the time as their mother was studying and spent little time at home.
However, despite the time David spent caring for his children, the fact that he legally had 25% custody determined his level of his support payments from Centrelink and therefore his ability to afford housing suitable for a family of 3.
David has university degree and was working in the Health field up until the end of 2009.
However due to stress, a relationship breakdown and poor social engagement – David began to struggle at work and as a result lost his job.
David was referred to Hanover via an outreach worker, who initially provided him with emergency accommodation in a local motel.
Once supported by Hanover, David was moved into a more suitable home, where he was able to stay for up to six months.
David’s support worker referred him to career counselling and also provided him with support for his personal problems. Now David is working part time and has 60% custody of his two children.
David has just been approved for a private rental property and with the help of Hanover, will be able to afford the costs associated with setting up his new home.
Lily and Alexander
Lily and Alexander became homeless three decades after immigrating to Australia from Russia. Both Lily and Alexander had worked for 20 years in Australia, Lily as a music teacher and Alexander as a chef.
The couple, both in their 60’s, came to Hanover after being evicted from their rental property when the property owner decided to sell. Due to the tight rental market, Lily and Alexander were unable to find a new place to live. Despite making numerous applications for rental properties, the couple was forced to resort to sleeping in a friends lounge room when the time came to vacate their home.
The couple was also devastated to learn that during their time of transience they were approved for an Office of Housing property, but as they had no postal address, they did not receive the paper work and missed the opportunity to accept the offer. This resulted in them being placed back at the bottom of the public housing waiting list, which they had been on since 1993.
After living for almost a year in a Hanover property, Lily and Alexander chose to move into their son’s house an hour from Melbourne while continuing to wait for another public housing offer.