Late last year, 11-year-old Bella Marsh* watched in tears as her family’s possessions were loaded into the car. Her beloved dog, Peppa, was at her side. The family should’ve been decorating the house for her older sister’s birthday the next day. Instead, they’d been told to leave their home.

They had nowhere to go.

Bella’s family were victims of a rental crisis that has seen a lack of affordable, secure housing and financial difficulties become the primary reasons for people seeking homelessness services.

As Bella watched on, her parents, Jodie and Simon, were distraught. Simon had been unable to work due to epilepsy, so money was tight, but they never dreamt they’d find themselves in this position, one where they were unable to put a roof over their children’s heads. It was only due to the kindness of friends that the family had somewhere to sleep that night, a caravan in their front yard. The Marsh family would stay there for the next six months through extreme heat and flooding. All while, they furiously searched for a permanent place to live.

“The cramped, uncomfortable conditions in the caravan started to really affect our whole family’s mental health,” says Jodie. “The kids couldn’t have friends over to play as they were embarrassed, and our eldest daughter, Mia’s anxiety got so bad she could no longer cope with school.”

After months of searching for hours every day and countless rejected applications, Jodie called Wesley Mission to explain her situation. The decision was a turning point in the family’s journey.

Jodie describes the team at Wesley Mission as “nothing short of a Godsend for our family from that very first phone call.” Working together, the team found the family transitional housing close to the children’s schools, which was a relief to Jodie and Simon as they were determined for young Bella to finish Year Six alongside the friends she’d been with since kindergarten. The family is now settling in well to their new home.

“The kids are absolutely loving it and they’ve each come right out of their shells since we moved in,” says Jodie. “We all have our own space now, even Peppa has a big, fenced yard to chase a ball in with Bella. It makes such a difference.”

While Bella’s family is happy and settled in their new home, our support doesn’t stop there. At Wesley Mission, we take a holistic approach, looking at all aspects of people’s lives to be most effective during a crisis and for the long-term.

For the Marsh family, this meant assessing their needs and staying in regular contact, so we can ensure that each of them has all the financial, medical and psychological support they need as they get back on track.

We’re working hard to help more families like Bella’s leave homelessness behind for good.

But we need your support.