The housing crisis is hitting our community hard, and sadly, older women are an increasing demographic predisposed to homelessness.
Mount Alexander Shire has a higher percentage of homeless women than the Victorian average, and the drivers for that are gender inequity and men’s violence against women.
The local council changed the local law a few years ago to enable Tiny Homes on Wheels to stay for an ‘indefinite period’ on land with a permanent dwelling. Since then, many people have turned to a THOW, seeing it as their only affordable housing option.
Here, Kathryn shares her story to try to improve community understanding of, and empathy for, the plight of being homeless/unhoused, and to help show how Tiny Homes on Wheels can be an option for some.
“I’ve just moved into my first ever ‘home of my own’ – a tiny home on wheels measuring 8 x 2.4 metres, quietly tucked away alongside an established home in Castlemaine. At last, I have a safe, secure and affordable home of my own. It’s something I never thought was possible,” she said.
“Five long decades of always living in someone else’s home, with their things, their belongings, their values … and having to move again soon enough, never knowing where.”
In her late 30s, Kathryn became a single mother with two small children, surviving on the pension, living in cheap rental properties and moving house every two years.
“I returned to university to study teaching and, having taught for six years, accumulated some superannuation,” she said.
“Then I moved to Castlemaine in my early 60s. And over the last six years, I have moved 15 times.”
Kathryn has house-sat, lived in share-houses and temporary rooms in friends’ houses.
“When you are younger, it all feels fine and you think to yourself that you are managing it okay. But I was getting older and I didn’t want to live with that uncertainty over my head. I longed to settle down, to be in one place, to connect with my neighbours and local community,” she said.
“I applied for public housing and was classified as a priority due to my age, limited resources and homelessness. But as we all know, public housing waiting lists have soared over recent years. And I knew I was in for a long wait and was not very hopeful.”
Kathryn then began her research into tiny homes on wheels and calculated sums using the limited superannuation she had, and began the design and building process prior to COVID.
“Now, after many delays and complications, I’m finally home,” she said.
“I live very simply, have minimal possessions, and I am passionate about ethical living. My tiny home reflects my values. It’s the most viable, affordable and sustainable solution for me.
“I now have a place that’s my home. I absolutely love it.
“I know that tiny homes are not the only solution to the housing crisis, and they may not be suitable for everyone. But for me, a tiny home is the ‘perfect fit’.”
Courtney Stephens, Dhelkaya Health senior housing services worker, and Kaz Neilson of My Home Network are working together and with a diverse range of organisations to address homelessness and reduce the stigma around it.
Kaz Neilson explains the interconnected drivers of the housing crisis-inequity, which are lack of social housing, wages and pensions not rising with inflation, mismatch of housing supply and need, and tax and financial mechanisms that compound inequity, family violence and mental health.
My Home Network is advocating to address these drivers and is working on local community-led solutions. They are supporting the appropriate uptake of Tiny Homes on Wheels in the shire and advocate with others, such as the Australian Tiny House Association for clear, consistent and practical regulations and policy frameworks at the local, state and national levels.
My Home Network is auspiced by Dhelkaya Health and made up of passionate community members, locals with lived experience of the housing crisis, and representatives from local housing initiatives, community and government organisations.