If you’ve ever fallen asleep as a passenger in a car on a road trip for a few minutes, your neck probably told you how uncomfortable it was the second you woke.
Now imagine spending whole night after whole night sleeping in your car, with your 12-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter sharing the space.
There are no mattresses, nothing to stop light streaming in the windows, only a blanket for warmth as the cold frosts up the vehicle’s shell.
This was the recent reality for Shepparton’s Diddles Lovell and two of her children before they finally got emergency accommodation at a caravan park in Mooroopna a few weeks ago.
Still, it’s only temporary and only a one-bedroom dwelling for three adult-sized people, who are tired of living on top of each other.
And she pays $475 a week for it.
“We just can’t find a rental,” Ms Lovell said.
“I can afford to pay rent for a three-bedroom house; I’ve never defaulted on a rent payment before.
“But there’s just no housing around, and when there is, it tends to go to people who are a couple and are working.
“If you’re an unemployed single parent, you haven’t got much of a chance.”
Ms Lovell said she had applied for more than a hundred houses since lodging in the Mooroopna caravan park at the end of April — 13 since Friday alone.
“I’m just trying to get help, but nobody’s helping, all the doors are just being slammed in my face,” she said.
Ms Lovell has current health issues that prevent her from working and a child with high needs, but she receives a carer’s payment that is higher than the minimum working wage in Australia.
“It’s not like I can’t afford rent and utilities,” she said.
“I’ve been going to local housing services to try and find emergency accommodation, but there was nothing; staying in motel rooms, wherever we could.
“But most of the time, it was in the car, which is pretty dangerous around Shepparton.
“I didn’t know where to park. We parked in the back of McDonald’s car park, trying not to be caught by security, but we knew if we parked there if anything happened to us, it would be on camera.
“We had tried parking up the back of the lake, but there were people trying to come up and cause trouble, abusing the kids, and they got scared, so I had to take off, so we were bouncing around trying to find somewhere safe to stay.
“I’ve tried real estate, private housing, newspaper ads, but the only offers I’ve had are too far away from Shepparton, too far away from school for the kids, and they love school.”
Ms Lovell has even doorknocked orchards in the area, asking to rent accommodation on the property, only to be met with similar answers at all stops: that the lodgings are for backpackers and are not permanent residences.
Desperate times often call for desperate measures and Ms Lovell said it was getting to that point for her.
“There’s an abandoned house nearby that I even considered squatting in, but I’ve never done that before,” she said.
“I don’t break the law in any way; I won’t even drive my car unregistered. I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink alcohol.
“We just need a home. We just want someone to give us a chance to prove I will pay my rent. I’ve always paid my rent every week, that’s my first priority.”
Ms Lovell said she had been trying to get help from all the local support organisations she knew of, but due to high demand, all services were strained.
“It’s just not fair on the kids. And it’s not just me in this situation; there’s a lot of us. They’re sleeping down in the bush because they’ve got no home and nobody’s lifting a finger to help anyone,” she said.
“I’m a giver by nature, not a taker, but it’s gotten to a stage where I have to.
“We just need help; we just need a home.”