Tina Follett details family homeless struggle amid housing crisis

Tina Follett, of Orange in NSW's Central West, has spent months without a home and living away from some of her children who are staying with friends or other family members.

"I became homeless in March due to termination no grounds, in that time I was trying to look for a property but the rental market was just too high for me and the kids so I went to tribunal," Ms Follett said.

"I got another two or four weeks and in that time I still couldn't find a house so we went to the motel for another month-and-a-half and the whole time we were trying to find houses and still couldn't get one.

"I lost all my stuff apart from my fridge, my washing machine and swing set that Housing Plus took and looked after for me and everything else went out on the kerb practically for everybody to take because I had nowhere to store my stuff."

She said initially the property owners let her keep her belongings in the double garage but when they needed it back she couldn't get a storage shed or find anywhere to store it.

"I had to go in and open every single box and take out what I really needed and a friend up the road looked after five or six boxes that I managed to salvage but everything else, our lounge, our beds, chest-of-drawers, dryer, my deep freezer, all the kids' toys were out the front," she said.

"As we were putting them out the front people were just pulling up and putting it in their car and I was a complete mess."

Unfortunately, in her haste to gather items, some sentimental belongings were left behind and taken by strangers, including the family's pet rabbit.

"I had something since my mum passed away that I had since I was two and I held onto it forever. It might have only been a doona cover but it was sentimental and I ended up losing that because I was just in a mad rush and didn't know what it was in and I had accidentally thrown it out," she added.

"Some days I just sit and cry still."

The 40-year-old said she and her family lived in the private rental for three-and-a-half years before receiving 90 days notice to vacate so the owners could renovate the property.

"I've always rented privately," she said.

"I've always been in the rental market and paid high rent but the rent now is just ridiculous.

"I just could not get a house and with the rental market now, I looked at it the other day and it was $400 a week and I can't afford that."

Ms Follett said the family was homeless for a month-and-a-half before getting a property through the Department of Communities and Justice.

"We were there going on for two months and I found black mould in the back room which was quite bad so they sent guys out to have a look and there was water damage and they've come and ripped the bathroom out and we weren't able to stay because of not being able to shower," she said.

"There was mushrooms underneath, there was water damage, so we had to be removed and lost all our stuff, it's still in the house because of the mould spores had gone through everything.

"You could just smell it through the house, it was just horrible, absolutely horrible."

As a result, Ms Follett and three of her children have lived in emergency accommodation in Orange for the past six weeks while they wait for another house.

"It's the first time ever I've ever been homeless in my life," she said.

"This will be the second time now we've lost everything.

"I had five of my children living with me to start off with but due to being homeless I've only been able to have three."

Of those children her sons Brodie Lee, 15, Caleb Lee, 14, and Braxton Shean, four, are living with her.

However, her two oldest children are living separately, daughter Talitha Lee, 19, is living with a friend and Jayden Lee, 16, is staying with Ms Follett's brother.

"They both work and life was just too hectic," Ms Follett said.

"We didn't know where we were going to be, one minute we were in a motel and then we are packed out of that room for the night and back into another one and so it's just been horrible.

"Being separated from my kids is hard enough, I see them all the time and we communicate every day but it's still not the same as having them at home."

She said after leaving the first house they spent the first few days at a motel on Bathurst Road but then ended up at the Mid City Motor Lodge where they lived for a month-and-a-half, although not always in the same rooms.

"It was crazy, walking the street everyday, applying for houses and knowing that wasn't going to happen," she said.

"It was just a kick in the teeth everyday."

She said she put in a claim for compensation as a result of the mould outbreak but wasn't sure how long that would take or what the outcome will be.

"I went there a week after [we left] and I went to my bedroom, which was off Caleb's room, to get some shoes and they were just white, from the mould. It's gone through everything," Ms Follett said.

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As a result of the situation, Ms Follett had to stop working and there were days when the children missed out on school.

"They are back at school now but I only got Caleb's uniform last week ... I just got him new shoes, I had to buy him a new uniform because we came in here with a plastic back of clothes each and that was it," she said.

"Financially you cannot afford it, I'm a single parent.

"I was working ... I can't wait to get back there but just with what's going on it's just too hard for me to work.

"I loved work, I was cleaning motels and I had Braxton going to the daycare just around the corner from home and now, not knowing where we are going to live, where we are going to be situated ... I don't drive so I can't go swapping and changing day cares."

She said the time between houses was particularly challenging with the lack of certainty and being bounced around between motel rooms, during which time another of her sons went to stay with her best friend.

"Just being separated by my children was hard enough and then no routine, and just lifestyle," she said.

"I was walking the streets crying. We'd have to be out [of a room] on a Saturday at 10 o'clock and we'd have literally nowhere to go, like nowhere to go, I don't have much family here, my brother is in a two-bedroom home with my other son, and his son, so we could not go there.

"You are here for two nights, you pack your bags up and you go here ... I get that there are so many other people, I get that there's a crisis and there's something more that has to be done for the homelessness, it's just crazy."

Ms Follett said she does not drive and as a result of her situation had to stop working as there were days when she couldn't put Braxton into daycare because the motel or emergency housing they were in was too far away.

She said she's hopeful another house will become available next month but she's since met other people who are also homeless and in worse situations with nowhere to go.

"I've got my fingers and toes crossed that hopefully something comes up this week," she said.

"I've got a home here but it's not my home, it's not my bed, I'm hanging to go hang my washing on the clothesline but I don't have a clothes line, Braxton doesn't have a backyard.

"I get it could be worse, we could be in a tent or things like that but time frame of what it does and the kids have only just got their own bedroom for the first time, my boys, and then we're back out not knowing.

"I stayed at my friends for one night and I was worried about how it would affect my friendship and six kids living in the same home. Two or three nights, fair enough, but you just can't do it."

Since her situation started she has also met other people in similar, and worse situations.

"Being homeless for the first time I met so many other people that are homeless also, it's just sad to see," she said.

"I seen [sic.] a few people while I was staying at the motel who were homeless, because I don't know people I met quite a few people.

"I remember a lady and her son were doing it for two years and he ran into me in Woolies the other day and said 'me and Mum got a house the other day', and I went 'awesome mate, well done' so there's a lot of people.

"I know it's not anybody's fault but there's still got to be something done about it."

Ms Follett said the workers from the Department of Communities and Justice have been good and tried to help.

"They are good people but for them even their job must be hard," she said.

"I don't just think of myself in this situation but I think about everybody else and how hard it is.

"It can happen to anyone, I'm 40 and it's the first-time it's happened to me.

"We had everything, we had a home, we had everything we ever needed and just lost it in a split second."