Have you ever been Homeless ?

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
I was homeless for about 4 months in the late 90's. Had alcohol problems.
I set up a tent in the hills surrounding Perth.
Used to visit the Soup Kitchen in Fremantle.
No home, no job, No money, no hope.
Very disheartening when society ignores one.
If you watch people walk past a homeless person, the majority avert their eyes.
They do not realise that at the stroke of a pen, there goes your job, your Mortgage payments, your home, your self esteem, your reason for living.
So many people are living on the edge of the Abyss, a slight tremor will make the foundation crumble and many people will fall to their demise
 

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Ruthanne said:
Yes I have too in the 1980s. Not for very long though. I agree with your post. It's very true that anyone can become homeless in an instant.
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Many people are living right on the edge. Lack of housing here is seeing a disaster taking place. Many landlords are evicting long term tenants so they can up the rent by $100 or more a week. Shocking what is happening
 

Bretrick said:
Many people are living right on the edge. Lack of housing here is seeing a disaster taking place. Many landlords are evicting long term tenants so they can up the rent by $100 or more a week. Shocking what is happening
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I have a fear that can happen to me. We have a new owner here now at the apartments. I'm afraid they may up the rent and not take the subsidized rent payment anymore. My lease is until August and then I will have been here 10 years.

If I have to move it will be hard to find another place that takes the subsidy and dogs too. Maybe I should start praying.
 
Ruthanne said:
I have a fear that can happen to me. We have a new owner here now at the apartments. I'm afraid they may up the rent and not take the subsidized rent payment anymore. My lease is until August and then I will have been here 10 years.

If I have to move it will be hard to find another place that takes the subsidy and dogs too. Maybe I should start praying.
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Yes, prayers needed.
My owner is well into his 80's and my fear is, when he passes, his son may sell this place. More than likely new owners will up the rent
 
Ruthanne said:
I have a fear that can happen to me. We have a new owner here now at the apartments. I'm afraid they may up the rent and not take the subsidized rent payment anymore. My lease is until August and then I will have been here 10 years.

If I have to move it will be hard to find another place that takes the subsidy and dogs too. Maybe I should start praying.
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Hope the new landlord has a soft heart Ruth.
 
Bretrick said:
I was homeless for about 4 months in the late 90's. Had alcohol problems.
I set up a tent in the hills surrounding Perth.
Used to visit the Soup Kitchen in Fremantle.
No home, no job, No money, no hope.
Very disheartening when society ignores one.
If you watch people walk past a homeless person, the majority avert their eyes.
They do not realise that at the stroke of a pen, there goes your job, your Mortgage payments, your home, your self esteem, your reason for living.
So many people are living on the edge of the Abyss, a slight tremor will make the foundation crumble and many people will fall to their demise
Click to expand...
I wasn't actually homeless but I was close several times. I mean, arriving in a country without a job and dwindling cash. In fact, I got a job in Fremantle just in the nick of time and found a house/commune in Shenton Park, but that was back in January of 1980.
 
Verisure said:
I wasn't actually homeless but I was close several times. I mean, arriving in a country without a job and dwindling cash. In fact, I got a job in Fremantle just in the nick of time, but that was back in January of 1980.
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Lucky to get a job in Freo at that time. Before the America's Cup, Depressed labour market. Working on the wharfs?
 
Ruthanne said:
I have a fear that can happen to me. We have a new owner here now at the apartments. I'm afraid they may up the rent and not take the subsidized rent payment anymore. My lease is until August and then I will have been here 10 years.

If I have to move it will be hard to find another place that takes the subsidy and dogs too. Maybe I should start praying.
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No, I have never been homeless but I now have that same fear living in a subsidized apartment.
 
Verisure said:
Thank you. I stayed in WA shy of a year then moved on to Sydney to start all over again. What about you? Are you still there now with a decent job and staying away from stubbies of XXXX?
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I arrived in WA from Tasmania in 1988 and lived in Esperance for four years.
Moved to Fremantle in 92.
Freo today is a depressing place again with many boarded up stores and plenty of vagrants/homeless people.
I am now living 8 km North of the CBD and have full time work.
Though right now, off work with a broken ankle(Workplace Injury-Compo)
I have stayed away from all booze since 2001 - what a relief.
 
Bretrick said:
I arrived in WA from Tasmania in 1988 and lived in Esperance for four years.
Moved to Fremantle in 92.
Freo today is a depressing place again with many boarded up stores and plenty of vagrants/homeless people.
I am now living 8 km North of the CBD and have full time work.
Though right now, off work with a broken ankle(Workplace Injury-Compo)
I have stayed away from all booze since 2001 - what a relief.
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I had no idea Perth was is in such a state. The only real piss-up I ever had was two weeks (every night) in the early 1970s. My best mate had been at it for months (his divorce you know) so when my own divorce was finalized I joined him but I couldn't take it so after two weeks I stopped and left him to destroy his life on his own. So, I don't have the experience you have but I appreciate the hardship that must have led you there and the even harder road it must have been to bring you back again. Good on 'ya! (y)

Ps. He eventually found Jesus and dried up. But he was a horrific smoker and died of cancer 3 years ago.
 
Verisure said:
I had no idea Perth was is in such a state. The only real piss-up I ever had was two weeks (every night) in the early 1970s. My best mate had been at it for months (his divorce you know) so when my own divorce was finalized I joined him but I couldn't take it so after two weeks I stopped and left him to destroy his life on his own. So, I don't have the experience you have but I appreciate the hardship that must have led you there and the even harder road it must have been to bring you back again. Good on 'ya! (y)

Ps. He eventually found Jesus and dried up. But he was a horrific smoker and died of cancer 3 years ago.
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Thank you.
It is really only Fremantle that is having a hard time. Being a working Port not a lot of jobs going. Mostly Hospitality based now.
With what I consider rather too many overpriced, substandard eateries vying for the limited number of people who visit there every weekend.
Perth, and Western Australia is thriving given the pandemic situation. Huge mining industry bringing in billions of dollars. With a combined workforce of over 120,000.
 
Bretrick said:
Thank you.
It is really only Fremantle that is having a herd time. Being a working Port not a lot of jobs going. Mostly Hospitality based now.
With what I consider rather too many overpriced, substandard eateries vying for the limited number of people who visit there every weekend.
Perth, and Western Australia is thriving given the pandemic situation. Huge mining industry bringing in billions of dollars. With a combined workforce of over 120,000.
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You must be doing rather well, then! BTW, I don't suppose Toto's Pizza is still thriving, is it?
 
Bretrick said:
Never heard of Toto's Pizza in all the time I have visited Fremantle. I would confidently say no to that
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It was in Perth on Murray Street. Toto (from Italy) made some very good pizza as long as he could concentrate on the job and resist casting glances at his waitress every time she bent over to get something.
 
Verisure said:
It was in Perth on Murray Street. Toto (from Italy) made some very good pizza as long as he could concentrate on the job and resist casting glances at his waitress every time she bent over to get something.
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I had a look.
No longer called Toto's, now called Simple Italian.
With these cuisines - Italian, Pizza, Mediterranean, Neapolitan, Campania, Southern-Italian
 
Bretrick said:
I had a look.
No longer called Toto's, now called Simple Italian.
With these cuisines - Italian, Pizza, Mediterranean, Neapolitan, Campania, Southern-Italian
Click to expand...
Wow! Maybe it's still him? If you ever go inside ask if Toto's there .... or at least ask if it was called Toto's in the early 1980s. (y)
 
Yes I was homeless for a short time when I ran away from home at barely 16 with no real plans and just enough money to get on a train and let it take me where it landed me...
Long story short, I ended up living in the Salvation army hostel for women...
 

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