A woman who became homeless in her 60’s says homeless seniors feel “invisible”.
Marie Sillars celebrated her 69th birthday in a very unusual way – by speaking at the NSW inquiry into homelessness amongst older people aged over 55.
Held at Club Parramatta, Ms Sillars said her conviction to reach out and help others is what ultimately gave her the courage to share her story at the inquiry.
“I have a long history of trying to get through the maze that is an older person trying to get into housing,” she said.
“So I thought it’s time for me to step forward and try to get a voice for people who are vulnerable.”
While in the middle of a marriage breakup, Ms Sillars found herself living on a friend’s couch before settling into a unit in St Marys, where she struggled to pay for both rent and food on her Widows Allowance. This, coupled with being far away from her grandchildren, led to her mental health suffering and she attempted to commit suicide.
After being rushed to hospial, Ms Sillars’ mental health team contacted Public Housing and she was able to move into a one-bedroom unit in the Ivanhoe Estate, where she lived happily as part of the community.
The estate’s eventual closure in 2014 was a devastating blow to Ms Sillars and many of the other seniors who lived there.
“When you’ve got a group of seniors living together in safe, secure housing we can do amazing things in our communities,” she said.
“But the government sold it off, so we were sent away from our community and that was heartbreaking.”
For Ms Sillars, the road to her current unit has been paved with terror, fear and anxiety, and she said she doesn’t want others to suffer the same way and feel “invisible.”
“On my way to the inquiry I saw an older lady sitting in Parramatta Park, obviously surrounded by her belongings, and it broke my heart,” Ms Sillars said.
“It just isn’t good enough, we deserve better.”
Housing for the Aged Action Group Executive Officer Fiona York said they are calling for three key recommendations to be made to address older people facing housing stress and homelessness.
“The Ageing on the Edge NSW Forum is asking the government to do three key things, one is fund a specialist older person’s housing information and support service,” she said.
“The second thing is to lower the priority age for social housing eligibility, which is currently at 80 years, and the third is to build at least 5,000 social and affordable houses per year for ten years, with 20 per cent of those houses earmarked for older people.”
If you are homeless, or at risk of being homeless, contact Link2home Homelessness on 1800 152 152 for support.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.