GIVIT

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59 year woman on disability pension, caring for her son with disability is struggling to replace goods lost in the floods.

This 59 year old woman lives on a disability support pension for her mental health after surviving more than twenty years of domestic abuse. She is currently the primary carer for her 26 year old son who has a disability, but she worries she won’t be able to care for him much longer because of her poor health. At the moment, too, she has no family support. However, for years she has been proactive in advocating for more NDIS funding for her son in the hope of hiring carers to help her look after him. Compounding her difficulties, she lost everything she owned, including her car, in the 2021 floods. The cost of living crisis is hitting her household hard. In addition to finding it difficult to cover the cost of replacing the kitchen basics lost in the flood, her son’s mattress needs replacing; it has holes in it and some of the springs are exposed and coming through. She works hard to support herself and her son but needs some support now.