Homeless mum of two Crystal Kenzie, living in a tent, inundated with generous offers
A desperate but determined mum of two living in a tent near a Tassie highway has been helped by “wonderful” strangers, including a reality TV star, after spending years waiting for social housing. LATEST >>
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STRANGERS, friends, politicians and real estate agents have been moved after reading Crystal Kenzie’s tale of despair, with some offering a helping hand.
The Mercury’s article published on Tuesday (below) shared Ms Kenzie’s story of living in a tent, waiting to be housed and battling several health conditions.
PRD Hobart owner and former Bachelor in Paradise contestant Conor Canning hoped to give Crystal an affordable rental after reading of her plight on Instagram.
“There’s not enough housing at the moment, we’re getting swamped with applications,” the real estate agent said.
“It would be really special to be able to directly influence someone who’s having a tough time. It can happen to anyone.
“Your personal circumstances can change really quickly and tragic events happen quickly and all of a sudden you might find yourself in exactly the same position.”
Mr Canning said discussions with Crystal were underway with plans to secure a property.
After reading the story, good Samaritan Trevor Chesterfield, 70, also offered to lend Crystal a temporary roof over her head at his home.
“People in need have stayed here before for years,” he said.
“When I read Crystal’s story my heart bled, I had to help.
“My house might be dusty but it’s relaxed.”
A friend of Ms Kenzie’s sister asked Facebook friends to donate clothes and items on Wednesday.
“I have a friend who is doing it really tough,” she posted on Facebook.
“She’s homeless and due to family violence, she doesn’t have any shoes or clothes, only the ones she was wearing.
“I’m heading to her mum’s tomorrow night to drop my items off, if any of you can help, please give me an inbox and I’ll arrange to pick them up.”
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said her friends immediately jumped up to help.
She said she will hand over more than four bags of helpful items to Ms Kenzieon Thursday afternoon.
Crystal said the kind offers from strangers and friends were “wonderful”.
“It makes me feel that there is somebody out there that is willing to help,” she said.
“I was going around in circles, I really appreciate the help.
“I’m really thankful, I really am.”
Labor leader Rebecca White took to Facebook to share her sympathy for Ms Kenzie.
“No one should feel they have no other option but to camp in a tent because they can’t afford to live in a house,” she posted.
“The problem on housing affordability has been ongoing for years (remember the tents at the showground and on parliament lawns?) but the government still isn’t doing enough to build more homes so that people can have a roof over their head.”
‘I’ve got nowhere’: A homeless mum’s desperate plea for help
Kasey Wilkins
February 23, 2021
TUCKED away in the trees next to a major highway, a Hobart woman is living in a small tent and struggling to survive.
After being on the social housing waitlist since September 2019 and exhausting short-term shelter and accommodation options, Crystal Kenzie is now camping in a pocket of bushland at Warrane.
She said she can’t keep living like this.
“I suffer breakdowns. I just can’t keep doing this anymore,” she said.
“I feel like I keep going in circle and everybody says they can’t help me.”
Ms Kenzie’s home consists of a small tent, some blankets, some canned food and a campfire.
She’s able to visit her sister’s house, about a 30 minute walk away, to shower, charge her phone, and get assistance with things such as going to the pharmacy.
However, neither her sister or mother are in a position to take her in, and she is in the process of divorcing her husband of more than 10 years.
“I have two kids but I can’t see them, so I don’t bond with them. One is 21 and the other is 19 — they live at their dad’s,” she said.
“I’ve lost contact with them because I’ve got nowhere to take them. I can’t bring them here,” she said of her campsite.
Ms Kenzie is living with physical and mental health conditions, such as poor eyesight, diabetes, anxiety and depression.
Ms Kenzie said she also gets scared at night.
“One night when it was raining I got stuck in the creek. I couldn’t see properly and I almost drowned,” she said.
“I ended up walking to my mum’s place and slept in the shed.”
The Mercury put questions to the Department of Communities and Minister for Housing around Ms Kenzie’s situation.
A government spokeswoman said they were unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns.
She said Housing Connect offers a range of services to those in need, such as emergency accommodation, short and medium term accommodation in motels and cabins, assistance to access private rentals or referral to a Housing Support Worker.
“The time taken to house somebody on the waitlist is influenced by a range of factors including their specific needs and areas selected on their application,” she said.
“The Human Services Dashboard for the September 2020 quarter shows that the average number of weeks to house priority applicants was 63.4 weeks.”
She said to address increasing demand, $300 million was being invested to deliver more home and homelessness initiatives.
“These initiatives will see more than 1500 new homes delivered for social housing over the next three years as well as more capacity in our homeless shelters and supported accommodation facilities to ensure we are supporting Tasmanians with a range of housing needs.”
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