For millions of Americans, money is very tight right now. As inflation continues to hit people where it hurts – rent, gas, food, clothing – moms and dads are struggling and struggling and struggling. While things are tough in America, they’re just as hard for parents in other parts of the world, including Australia. Now, one Australian mom is coming forward to share how she pays upwards of $450 per week for a mold and rat-infested home, so she doesn’t have to live in her car with her seven children.
But mom is now thinking about abandoning four of her children because they’re simply too expensive to raise. As the housing crisis continues to force millions of parents into tough situations around the world, including both in America and Australia, people like mom-of-seven Herbriella George are really going through hard times.
George is one of nearly 60,000 people in New South Wales, Australia, who are on a waiting list for social housing. George is being forced into a very tight situation where she must choose between living in a car and living with all seven of her children, who are getting too expensive for the busy, hard-working mother.
While George waits for a better housing option, she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She can either live inside her car with her seven children or continue to live in a rat-infested abode that is very unhealthy and unsafe for her kids.
George confessed that she has seen between sixty and seventy properties while waiting on the waitlist for housing assistance. She has been on the waitlist for going on a decade and has applied to each and every one of the available properties that have come up but have never been selected and continue to struggle month to month to figure out how to make ends meet for her sake and for her children’s sake.
Eventually, George came across a mold-infested and rat-ridden house in southern Sydney, Australia, that was going for about $450 per week. She knew no one else would want the property, so she applied and was able to secure it for herself and her loved ones.
“I had no choice but to live in that, or the other option is to live in my car,” George told The Project.
George claimed that the mold problem in the house was so bad it had ruined many of her possessions. She was forced to throw a bunch of her belongings away because the mold had ruined them. She also has to deal with a slew of rats that she has started referring to as her “pets” because it puts a positive spin on a horrible situation.
“‘I had to give four of my children up because I just couldn’t afford them anymore,” George said. “There are days I don’t even know what to put on the table. It makes me break down that I can’t give my kids the home they deserve.”
In Australia, data shows that there are 144,000 people in need of housing assistance.