Since Shoalhaven City Council banned casual camping at Nowra Showground, many who call the showground home are once again on the streets ahead of Christmas.
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I long for the normal things like getting up and being able to have a shower and make yourself a cuppa and sit at a table, those sort of things.
- Linda, 51.
Linda, 51 who didn’t wish to disclose her surname, is one such person who has nowhere to go following the decision which was made at a recent Mayoral Homelessness Taskforce meeting.
“I’ve been staying at the showground because unfortunately I’m unemployed, I haven’t been overly well and I’ve found myself homeless,” she said.
“I don’t know what the answers are but we all need some help up there, we really do.
“I’m supposed to move out of the showground today and I’ve got absolutely nowhere to go.”
Linda said she found herself homeless as a result of family issues, poor health and a few bad decisions.
“It gets hard, life sometimes doesn’t work out the way you expect it to,” she said.
“I long for the normal things like getting up and being able to have a shower and make yourself a cuppa and sit at a table, those sort of things.”
Linda has been staying at the showground for eight months and said it had been an up and down period.
“It’s been interesting, it’s not been too bad, there has been pockets of issues, but really most of us are everyday people trying to find somewhere to rent that we can afford,” she said.
“I’ve got a dog who I choose not to leave, he helps my mental illness, that doesn’t help the situation. A lot of flats and units won’t take animals, he is well behaved, he doesn’t bark and I don’t party.
“It is just so hard to find somewhere to rent that is affordable.”
Asked where she would go to live and Linda had no idea what her future held.
“I don’t know, I’ll head over to the train station and I’ll get off somewhere,” she said.
“I’ll probably sleep on the streets for a few nights now. I really couldn’t tell you what else.”