Luo's Story

Hello my friends. This is a story about living in public housing. Welcome and share my story.

I’m living Department of Housing in Woolloomooloo. That is very beautiful place and some of the notable residents are actor Russell Crowe, radio presenter John Laws and singer Delta Goodrem. They all live in Woolloomooloo too.

Unfortunately, I am just a simple person, a single mother and a cancer patient. I have had non-Hodgkins lymphoma since 1997. And my English is still very pool because my first language is Chinese. But I don’t worry. I’m very happy and enjoying my life in Woolloomooloo. I have received much needed help from the local community centre, called “Walla Mulla Family & Community Support Centre” since I moved to Woolloomooloo in 2003.

The staff at the centre help people with housing issues and other things by liaising with their landlord and the Department of Housing, counselling, and home visits and escorting them to medical and hospital appointments and more.

When I moved into my unit, water was coming into my bedroom and my son’s bedroom from a leak in the roof. Mushrooms were growing on my floor. I rang the Department of Housing many times. I waited for them to fix the roof. After nearly one year no one came.

I was very sick at that time. I had just finished having a stem cell transplant, trying to get the cancer I had out of my system. I had a lot of side effects from the transplant. The mould and fungus were actually life threatening for me because my immune system was very weak. I had to sleep in my lounge room.

My neighbour told me that I could go to Walla Mulla for help. They helped me write the letter to the Department of Housing that explained my situation. One week later someone high up in the Depart of Housing came to visit me. The support people from Walla Mulla also came to this meeting. The people from DOH apologised and offered to fix the problem immediately. At 8am the next morning the workers were on the roof.

The Department did refund some of my rent. The problem seems to have been one of communication. Even though my GP did write a letter for me as well, it was not until Walla Mulla stepped in that the Depart of Housing responded. Maybe the Department of Housing is just understaffed. For people like me, with life threatening health problems, community support is essential when government services can’t help.

The support centre has free activities such as a walking group, sewing and art classes as well. I have been going to some of these activities. In 2008, they got a new bus. Now we can go to and from medical appointments, hospital visits, shopping trips and other activities using the bus service.

It is very important that I can have time to rest and go to my doctor’s appointments. My son and I join the monthly BBQ and I send my son to the after school care. Sometimes he goes to a camp supported by the police and the navy. This means I have four days to rest.

If you are someone living in department of housing and you need help solving a problem, check out your local community support centre and talk to them, tell them your situation and let them help you.

If you want more information about Walla Mulla, click the link here. Walla Mulla
If you want more information about Woolloomooloo, click the link here. Woolloomooloo