Young Aussie reveals heartbreaking reason her family is homeless

On the surface, Ms Orlando’s life looks like any other young persons, but she’s hiding a heartbreaking secret that makes her feel like she is “suffocating”.

Renee Orlando is 28 and she’s never been overseas, she’s not trying to save for a house and she doesn’t even have any life savings … why? Because she’s trying to support her homeless parents and brother.

“I used to compare myself to other people. I’ve never been overseas, but I didn’t have the same starting point,” she told news.com.au.

On the surface, Ms Orlando’s life looks like any other young person’s. She lives in a trendy suburb in Melbourne, she has a cool job as a tattoo artist and her social media is littered with references to fun nights out and niche tattoo content.

But below the surface she’s treading water.

“My parents are so trapped, I’m thinking about it constantly, I’m always trying to think of ways to get more money,” she said.

Ms Orlando’s parents, Susanne and Richard, alongside her 17-year-old brother, are currently homeless in Queensland.

Her dad can’t work because he has a medical condition called cavernoma. It means he often has seizures and it affects everything from his cognitive skills to how he can manage his emotions.

Her dad needs her mum’s support pretty much 24/7 because if he has a seizure and is alone, he can fall and hurt himself and need urgent medical attention.

Orlando has set up a GoFundMe in an effort to help her parents.

Renee Orlando is always trying to find new ways to support her family. Picture: Renee Orlando/Instagram

Renee’s mum, dad and brother have been homeless for two years. Picture: Supplied

At the moment her family is couch surfing and is currently staying on a friend’s lounge, but the 28-year-old worries about their situation being unsustainable.

Especially for her younger brother, who is at that age where he craves privacy.

“He is missing out on stuff like having his own room or being able to have friends over,” she said.

In fact, Ms Orlando spends every single day worrying, saying the constant concern for her parents has “taken over my whole life” and feels “suffocating” at times.

“I’m trying to do what is best for them without stepping on their toes,” she said.

She’s 28, but instead of thinking about her own future, she’s putting money aside monthly to contribute towards her parent’s storage unit. It’s where they’ve been keeping their belongings while searching for affordable housing.

“I’m always wearing myself thin to try and make sure no one in my family is falling behind,” she said.

Ms Orlando said keeping their stuff has turned into paying a “second” rent while also looking for another rental for her family, leaving her parents trapped in a cycle of never-ending poverty.

She works as much as she can to help support her family. Picture: Instagram/ReneeOrlando

Renee just wants her parents to have a home. Picture: Supplied

In 2022, Ms Orlando was less worried about her parents.

They were struggling but they were getting by and were living in a house under the government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).

The government scheme started in 2008 and was established to provide affordable housing for low to middle income earners in popular areas.

It is now set to end in 2026 and in 2022 Ms Orlando’s parents were notified their rental had surpassed the 10 year mark and that meant it was up to the landlord’s “discretion” on what to charge them.

The couple were on Centrelink and immediately couldn’t afford the rental increase, with the family going from paying around $300 per week to over $500, which Ms Orlando described as “very stressful”.

More than 6600 properties across Australia will be scrapped from the scheme.

There are currently no plans for a direct replacement of the scheme, though a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund was announced in the 2022/2023 federal budget, which will support the construction of 30,000 social and affordable homes over a five-year period.

However, Australians renting through the NRAS scheme who have to vacate these properties in the interim still need help.

Ms Orlando’s parents went from struggling but getting by to suddenly not having a home and, two years later, they still don’t.

She constantly worries about her brother. Picture: Supplied

There’s no help for young people supporting their families. Picture: Instagram/ReneeOrlando

When her parent’s rent originally increased, Ms Orlando figured that because her dad was on a disability pension and her mum was caring for him and they had a dependent child, there would be services the family could access.

The 28-year-old certainly didn’t think her parents would become homeless, but she soon discovered there was nothing available to help them and it was all falling on her.

Ms Orlando has a file on her computer where she keeps all the information she has about her parents and all the housing schemes she’s tried to access on their behalf.

Suddenly she went from not only having to pay her rent during a rental crisis, but looking for ways to help her parents and brother as well.

“I live pay cheque to pay cheque,” she said.

Ms Orlando said it is so hard because her parent’s struggle means she also has no one to fall back on.

“I should be able to turn to my parents and go live with them,” she said.

The 28-year-old is constantly trying to help her parents. Picture: Supplied

She is trying to support herself and her family. Picture: TikTok/ReneeOrlando

She explained that she thinks the government should be the ones helping struggling families and shouldn’t just fall on her and others who have found themselves in similar positions.

“You have these people experiencing homelessness and other family members trying to be the financial support systems but it should be on the government,” she said.

Ms Orlando stressed that she felt the government should be using their “resources” to help families in crisis.

“There should be some funding or resources to help the family members that are financially and emotionally supporting their loved ones in need,” she said.

The amount of time she has had to take off work to help her family and deal with her own chronic illness has also impacted the amount of money she has been able to bring in, with the tattoo artist revealing she earned a low-come last year.

Despite how difficult it is, Ms Orlando is dedicated to helping her parents, but constantly trying to budget a single wage to support not just herself but a three-person family is an impossible task.

“I’m constantly trying to budget for myself and also have enough for them. I’m always trying to save, hustle, and I often work 6-7 a day’s week.,” she said.

Ultimately, no matter how hard she works, she feels like there’s never “enough” to go around and, while her parents are stuck in a cycle of poverty, she’s stuck trying to help them with limited resources.

It means that not only is she having to worry about her own financial future, but her parent’s as well, leaving her wondering about how she will ever be able to get ahead.