Calls grow for social housing as council weighs land sales

IN THE past two years, Jessie Moore has moved seven times.

Forced to leave their family home after experiencing family violence, the 20-year-old, who uses they/them pronouns, has spent time living on the streets, in hotels and in share houses that nearly cost them their life.

Now living in transitional housing provided by Meli, Moore is using their story to push for action on social housing.

Earlier this year, these advocacy efforts saw them acknowledged with the City of Greater Geelong’s Youth Inspiration Award.

But living in limbo takes a toll.

“When you move so much in a short amount of time, you give up hope that it’s ever going to get better. I struggle with a lot of mental health stuff due to it, but I am hopefully that it will get better eventually,” Moore said.

Access to social housing, they said, would give them stability.

“It would just help me heal from the things that I’ve had to endure due to not having stable housing. [I could] get back to doing what I love, studying and getting a job in a field that is going to be rewarding.”

More than 5,000 households are on a priority wait list for social housing in the region. And as the wait for many drags on, Moore said, one young person dies every four days to homelessness.

Tomorrow, the City of Greater Geelong will meet to consider the future of two city-owned properties previously earmarked for social housing developments.

Instead, the sites, in Bell Post Hill and Belmont, now face the possibility of being sold, as the council looks for ways to drive down its debt over the next four years.

In firm opposition to the land sales, the Real Deal Geelong Alliance held a vigil at the Norlane Community Centre this month in a bid to draw attention to the desperate need for housing in the region.

Moore was one of several people to share their stories.

Another, a Norlane resident stuck living in a house that is falling down, is battling a lounge room that reaches 43 degrees Celsius in the summer months and asbestos in her laundry.

And at 80 years old, she’s forced to continue working.

“If I want a real roof over my head, I need to maintain my status as it is. It’s not just the financial side that worries me, it’s also the psychological aspect,” she said.

“The thought of not working in the future as I get really old, worries me. I have raised my own children myself — this is back in WA — paid my own taxes, so I feel I deserve some respite in my old age.

“Mine is just one story, just a drop in the ocean from the stories that are out there.”