Eventually his wife was unable to cope with the stresses of Gareth’s health issues on top of the pressing needs of their growing family, so the toughest decision of all was made and Gareth left the family home to ensure the most stable environment for their growing boys. Desperate to remain as close as possible to his sons, Gareth opted to live in a caravan outside the family home, but with minimal heating and little money, this style of living took a further heavy toll on his health – he contracted pneumonia the first year, shingles the next and influenza during the third. During this period, Gareth was referred to a mental health day program with community support organisation ERMHA in Dandenong, where things started to look up. “They were fantastic. It became apparent that I was a little more advanced in my recovery than a lot of the people I was with,” he said. Gareth found it reassuring to realise that his recovery might not be as big a stretch as he’d first thought and he undertook one of their mental health recovery courses, run entirely by people with mental health issues themselves. “I had a chance to do this course and it actually ‘did what it said on the packet’. I had to travel to the north of the city every day to do it. But I did it and it was the only mental health service that had worked for me, in any way, shape or form,” he said. After receiving his course completion certificate, he undertook further training with ERMHA. He was also diagnosed with diabetes and so faced an even more uncertain health future. So to help him resolve the now more pressing problem of finding a safe and secure home for the longer term, ERMHA connected Gareth with Housing Choices – his
first experience with a community housing provider. He didn’t know what to expect. “I had to find myself somewhere to go by the Monday and I got a call while I was in the supermarket on the Friday before. I dropped all the shopping with excitement and relief.” Housing Choices had found him a two-bedroom unit in the south- eastern suburbs that would provide a long-term stable base for him, close to his family, so he could continue his relationship with his two beloved boys. “When I saw the property, I was just elated. Over the moon. Ever since I’ve been there, I’ve been happier than I had been for years. My sons come over and stay with me and they’re not far away. It’s right near town, which is handy as I have a bit of difficulty walking far distances these days because of my diabetes.” “Housing Choices has given me back a ‘home’. It’s lovely. It’s given me the chance to spread out and really connect with my boys. It’s my base for everything I’ve done since. “I didn’t go out for years; didn’t talk to people for years. I was in this little corner; in a shell. I couldn’t communicate in any way at all and Housing Choices has allowed me to get out, find myself again and work towards employment.” These days, Gareth’s life is pretty calm, with far fewer money problems. “I’m not always on track, but I’m much better than I was. I’ve learned how to control my triggers. “I pay everything by CentrePay and with my disability pension, so whatever I’ve got left over is for me. I try to make it last a fortnight, not very successfully sometimes, but I manage. You learn very quickly to become an expert at budgeting.”
His two sons (now 15 and 17) visit regularly and often. “I have to have the fridge and freezer full of food as they’ll clear out half of it in two days. You know what teenagers are like!” He recently completed another TAFE course in youth work and says that without his new home he would not have had the time or the space to pursue further education. With a strong desire to help others and give back to the organisation that helped him in his time of need, he became an active member of the Housing Choices Resident Advisory Committee. “I heard about [the committee] through Home Stories. I thought, ‘I could do that’. I could have said ‘that’s too hard going into the city, back and forth. But I saw it as another challenge to my intellect. He relishes the opportunity to provide real and highly valued input to Housing Choices, bringing to the committee his neighbours’ and other community concerns, for whom he is now trusted and highly-respected representative voice. “My own life experience and my battles with mental illness put me in a really good position to help others, through understanding, compassion and a genuine willingness to listen - and that’s what the committee is about. And that’s what Housing Choices means to me.” “I enjoy it. I like to see what’s going on in our community,” he said.
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