In his year from hell, Brendon lost his house, car and job \u2013 and his family has been homeless ever since.<\/p>\n
It all began in 2023 when Brendon said his family had to move out of their rental, kicking off a series of unfortunate events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe landlord got sick with cancer and needed to move in,\u201d Brendon told ABC Radio Perth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had three months to find a new place and went to so many home opens but couldn\u2019t get anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brendon lost his home, car and job in the space of a year.\u00a0 (ABC News: Rachel Stowers\u00a0)<\/p>\n
The next cruel twist came when a tree fell on his car in what Brendon said was a freak accident.<\/p>\n
The loss of the family car was devastating \u2013 Brendon needed it for his job as a roof tiler.<\/p>\n
He was let go \u2013 and to add even further pressure, his partner Carmen was battling health issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarmen had another seizure. It can happen at any time,” he said.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re always on edge and being in this homelessness situation, it’s putting more stress on Carmen and that’s what’s causing the seizures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pilbara’s ‘red dust homelessness’<\/a><\/p>\n With housing linked to her violent ex-partner’s employer, fleeing home left Tess Hulshoff and her kids with nowhere to go \u2014 a problem unique to Pilbara’s “red dust homeless”.<\/p>\n The pair, and their two teenage sons, have been couch surfing, sleeping rough and spending time in short-stay hotel rooms ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re on a priority housing list, which has a two year wait. We are still trying to get housing. It’s just hard.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, managing that, the boys not knowing where we’re going from night to night, week to week kind of thing. It’s just so hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Brendon said he had always worked hard to provide for his family.<\/p>\n “I’ve always worked, I’ve never even had Centrelink, I’ve always had a job,” he said. The car boot was filled with food from ABC Perth’s ‘Breakfast Blitz’ campaign with Uniting WA.\u00a0 (ABC News: Rachel Stowers\u00a0)<\/p>\n “I had a little bit of savings, not much.”<\/p>\n Exceptional generosity<\/p>\n Brendon told his story to ABC Radio Perth as part of its Breakfast Blitz campaign, which is partnering with Uniting WA to donate non-perishable food items to rough sleepers.<\/p>\n ABC listener Heather said she was touched by his story and wanted to help.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n