As the housing crisis deepens in Western Australia, many are facing challenges they never expected. With the issue top of mind for voters ahead of the state election, reporter Tabarak Al Jrood speaks to a Perth mother struggling to keep a roof over her head.
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00:00This may look like your typical hospital room.
00:09Okay, so this is our room, this is Liam in bed.
00:14This is Liam's dialysis machine that we've nicknamed Nigel.
00:19But for Kerry and her 15-year-old son, it's home.
00:23This is the lounge, also my bed, so this is where I sit and sleep through the day.
00:28I'm also working from home.
00:31The single mother's life unravelled in 24 hours when she learned her son had been diagnosed
00:36with stage 5 kidney failure.
00:38Then his dad got sick, I then had to take Liam on full time, which means that I now
00:43can't work FIFO, which means that I can't earn the money that I need to, to be able
00:47to create a house for us.
00:50And it just keeps going.
00:51She's been forced to live at Perth Children's Hospital, but realises they can't stay there
00:56forever.
00:57I know when they come to a time and say, Kerry, you've got a week, we need you out,
01:05then I'm going to be panicking, but I think I've got at least two weeks up my sleep
01:10at the moment with just Liam and his treatment, so I can breathe a little bit, but I know
01:14the end is near.
01:16It's a situation Kerry never saw coming.
01:19I knew that if I got into trouble that I could rely on friends, but the problem is Liam needs
01:23dialysis every night, so he now needs medical equipment, he needs a safe home.
01:28Despite her endless search for a rental, she can't catch a break.
01:32How do I battle the hundred people at an inspection where we're all needing a house and the person
01:37with the deepest pockets wins?
01:39So people like me who can't even afford the $750 a week, I'm never going to get a look
01:45in.
01:46I know that.
01:47Kerry's experience is becoming increasingly common.
01:49Homeless service providers say they're seeing unprecedented levels of West Australians seeking
01:54their support.
01:55You've got a lot of volunteers still.
01:57I think there needs to be a recognition that the investments were geared in terms of a
02:01particular cohort of homelessness that we were seeing primarily in the past.
02:08That's changed, and so the investments need to change as a result now.
02:12Despite an uncertain future, Kerry refuses to give up.
02:16I've got no other option, and I'll just keep fighting and keep looking at houses and keep
02:20applying and keep asking for help until something happens.