Helen Wilson has battled breast cancer, is living with a Parkinson's disease diagnosis, cares for her granddaughter, and is too unwell to continue her nursing career.
Without regular income and relying on her pension, the bills are stacking up.
"I've been living in a rental for the past three-and-a-half years since I came out of hospital," she said.
"It was really hard to find a house that I could afford. I was extremely lucky to have friends that owned this house and were kind enough to let me and my granddaughter move in here for rent I could afford."
With the house now up for sale, Ms Wilson and her 11-year-old granddaughter need a home she can afford, so she applied for public housing last year.
"I filled out all the forms and they know the request is important, but they said I could be on the waiting list for four or five years," Ms Wilson said.
"I've only been on the waiting list for 12 months, but there's others that have been on the waiting list for years."
On Sunday, the Victorian Government earmarked $40 million for new public housing to be built in Mildura and $15 million for Swan Hill as part of a massive investment into public housing in the hope it will cut down the waitlist times.
Helen said it was a relief, but hoped the Government "gets building" quickly.
"My sister and her children had to put a tent in the backyard because she couldn't get private or public housing" she said.
Investment 'well overdue'
The chief executive of the not-for-profit Mallee Accommodation and Support Program (MASP), Gary Simpson, which manages emergency housing in north-west Victoria, said the State Government's investment was well overdue.
"This initiative in the Mallee will provide somewhere between 150 to 200 new homes which equates to a bit over 200,000 extra bed nights for people who need a roof over their head," he said.
While the details of the new builds are still unclear, Mr Simpson said MASP intended to apply for the tender.
"We are expecting the additional homes will be a mix of two, three, and four bedroom homes," he said.
"This announcement from the Government is phenomenal, and MASP is looking to do its bit for the Mallee."
Air con relief for old public homes
With the lack of air conditioning in public housing continuing to be a hot topic, the State Government today announced a separate $122 million package to seal windows and doors, upgrade heating, cooling, and hot water in 35,000 social housing properties.
Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said the upgrades would be "driven by assisting the most vulnerable".
"We know, of course, that in Mildura and the border region to the north of Victoria, heat stress has a massive impact on not just comfort that people have in their homes in the middle of summer, but also health impacts," she said.
"We know the health impacts can be sometimes, not just as deadly as bushfires, but can sometimes actually be worse."
An advisory group of experts and health department staff will be formed to identify the properties that are most in need of upgrades.
"We'd need to be looking at individual housing units to make sure a package of upgrades is appropriate for the particular housing unit and to the renter," Ms D'Ambrosio said.
The programs will be rolled out from the first half of 2021.
