More older Australians than ever before will spend tonight homeless...feeling lonely, isolated and afraid.
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Please, will you welcome someone like Phil in from the cold through your Winter Gift today?
Phil worked hard his whole life and was settling into retirement nicely after a lifetime as a carpenter.
But in just two years, everything fell apart – first his marriage, then his health, then the final shock… staring homelessness in the face.
Phil had a stroke that put him in hospital for four gruelling months. And while he was recovering alone in hospital, his lease lapsed. He tried to find another place to rent, but there wasn’t anywhere he could afford.
In hope, Phil turned to a cousin he hadn’t seen in a few years — only to find his cousin was now homeless, living in his station wagon.
“I had nowhere to go. So I ended up living in my ute. It was very uncomfortable.”
Phil lived this way for six long months, feeling isolated, alone and afraid…
Until the day he walked into a Salvation Army Centre.
Phil’s Salvos Case Worker, Linda, describes him now, after receiving help at the Salvos community centre he regularly attends…
"We love Phil, he’s a special part of our lives here, and he’s taken it as home. He’s come from a place of being in despair and not knowing what’s going to happen next, to having his housing sorted, and this strong sense of belonging, and family."
Sadly, we’re seeing more older Australians like Phil becoming homeless than we have seen in many years.
But you could help provide them with financial support, a place to call home, or a loving Salvos community to restore their sense of belonging.