97-year-old left homeless after losing housing department home | A Current Affair

Sarah is 97 years old and homeless for the first time in her life how and why this has happened is bewildering she's worked hard her whole life and is now understandably stressed and scared Sarah needs a home [Music] at almost a hundred years old nobody deserves to be homeless [Music] sleeping on a makeshift bed and living out of a suitcase I need a I read who's a very good motherless but Sarah mullet still puts her son mama before herself I told you before no because Sergio has taken his mum in at his tiny one-bedroom unit in the Sydney suburb of Glade no I I want to have my house my bedroom my bedroom my bedroom to be 97 and homeless Sarah yeah that's terrible because I call them terrible I feel powerless Sarah traveled to South America to visit family in November 2019. given your age that trip back home must have been precious thought of my family yeah when covert hit Australia's borders closed and Sarah couldn't get back she had a return ticket on the I think it was the 8th of April in 2020 and she got stuck because of the covert when international travel finally recommenced two years later Sarah struggled to get a direct flight there was a flight available through Doha through the Middle East that was a 40-hour flight um and it was I think seven thousand dollars and she couldn't do it anyway because of a frail age you know stranded overseas the Australian government cut Sarah's aged pension in half because she'd been out of the country for so long but they didn't reduce the rent on her community housing unit she'd lived in for almost 20 years the it came to the point where she asked me just just give them the keys and relinquish the house because she couldn't afford it she was getting 187 dollars a fortnight she couldn't even buy the food I mean you know just barely eat the great grandmother finally arrived back in Australia in July last year I pay more than three thousand three thousand American dollars for the last eight months Sarah's had nowhere to live left with no choice but to sleep on her son's couch what did your home mean to you Sarah my house it was beautiful inside beautiful for all the pride she took in her old home we returned with Sarah and Sergio to find nobody living there and the place brought it up her neighbor Susan the only comfort left oh my god when I wave goodbye to him all those years ago when I said I'll see you in six weeks yes [Music] and look what's happened to your beautiful house now [Music] says nobody's lived at Sarah's old unit for more than a month brand new floor that she paid I don't know three thousand dollars for whatever yes all gone yes all the security mesh and the blocks it looks terrible now can you believe this is your home because I couldn't afford it she couldn't return to it and now look at the way it's being treated or mistreated she hasn't got her home anymore we're told there are multiple vacant units in the Housing Commission block I mean people go in jail and get to keep their place so I don't understand the wait list well aware of the housing crisis Sergio isn't fighting for Sarah to be given another place of her own instead he's asking the department to consider their situation and Grant them a two-bedroom unit they can share so he can continue to care for his mum what eats at you the most that they don't care you know that they act as if they're against you that they act as if you're an enemy a retired public Hospital cleaner Sarah is used to caring for others she deserves to live her final years with dignity a nice house and clean house no yeah that is the my my dream a hard-working immigrant family to Australia many many years ago and has been totally productive and honest members of society so she deserves she deserves what we all want which is a roof you know housing security food security it's really appalling it really is appalling and dimity joins me on the desk now dim how can we allow this to happen to a vulnerable old lady well Ali wait to hear what the government first came back to us when we first went to the Department of communities and Justice they sent us a statement advising Sarah and her son to consider looking for housing properties outside Sydney's inner West because they would have shorter waiting times they also suggested Sarah apply for housing herself put her own name on the application because her age would push her up the priority list okay I know you DM and I know that you wouldn't have been happy with that well no I wasn't because imagine if this was your own loved one I mean advice is not what this family needs this family needs a solution Sarah deserves to have her own bedroom she's 97. so we contacted the New South Wales Premier Dominic parete and the opposition leader Chris mins who were facing an election in a week's time the opposition came back to us promising if elected next week labor will make Sarah a priority and find her a suitable home as for the premier year of New South Wales we never heard back from his office but we weren't going to let this one go so I kept calling because homelessness and the cost of living are the two most critical issues we're all facing right now we need politicians to act not just talk Sarah and Sergio have been hitting bureaucratic brick walls since July last year and a week before an election after we call they fix it late this afternoon the department of communities and Justice finally saw sense they called me Ali to say that they have found two properties that they are offering to the family and they hope to sign a lease soon so there you go I mean it shouldn't have been this hard not for anyone look it shouldn't never be that hard you're absolutely right but this this is amazing news have you been able to share it with Sarah I have I rang Sergio this afternoon and they're over the moon they say that you know they wish that they had called us sooner they've been through so much I mean she's been sleeping on a couch you know she was complaining about backache and it's just wonderful news and it's a great result but it shouldn't have to happen Ali well done Tim good stuff thank you

Channel: A Current Affair

Views: 411,916

Keywords: a current affair, a current affair reporter, a current affair australia, channel 9 news, 9 news australia, australia news, world news, australian news, channel 9

Id: AX6M9KMt_NU

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 21 2023