He was 19 and looking after two small kids on his own. This dad's story is incredible.

By Rural Housing Network Limited

Duke became a father at 16 and two years later he and his partner had another child. At 19 with 2 small children, Duke was left to look after his kids on his own, as his partner relinquished her responsibility and left the hospital after giving birth.

To manage, Duke, gave up work and assumed full responsibility for his new baby and toddler.  Duke had a strained relationship with his parents who were unwilling to help, and an older brother who could help out, but essentially Duke was on his own.

When Duke was forced to leave the private rental he had been living in for years because it was being sold, he applied everywhere else but was rejected. As a single father on a low income, Duke did  not appeal to landlords and he wasn’t able to secure a property.   To cope, Duke and his children shuffled from couch to couch and even to sleeping in their car.

Despite all this and sometimes living up to 2 hours away from where the children were enrolled in school, Duke managed to get both of his children to school each day — as well as his sister  who moved in with them due to being kicked out by their parents, to her school in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne.

When possible, Duke had some part time work to supplement the family’s limited income and pay for fuel to travel to the schools.  Many days he just parked the car near the school and simply waited because he could not afford to travel anywhere else nor waste the petrol.

Duke’s last semi-permanent address was with a young woman who was otherwise unknown to him but was arranged through good friends for him to house-sit her home for 6 weeks while she was overseas.  Upon her return she was impressed with the way he had cared for her property and by how well behaved the children were,  she allowed him to stay for a longer period.

During this time, Duke ensured that he and his children cleaned the home each day, gardened, cared for the pets and he attended to the cooking which helped to prolong their stay.

Duke’s story is not unusual, especially not to homelessness services working with people who are homeless or at risk on a daily basis. Especially for those in rural and regional Australia, options are severely limited, even for the most vulnerable – children.

Duke came to Rural Housing Network for help.

Rural Housing was able to offer a Duke and his family a community housing property, at a rent he could afford with no risk of the property being sold from under him. Six years ago he moved in, and he has lived there ever since.

Duke now runs a lawn mowing and garden maintenance business part-time so he can still be at home for the children when they are not at school.  Due to the trauma, discrimination and uncertainty he experienced, he now suffers from anxiety and depression, although he shields his children from this. His sister completed her year 11-12 VCE studies and has moved on to higher education.

Duke’s son will be 16 this year and is looking forward to gaining his Learners Permit; his Dad is preparing a small car for him.  His daughter is 14 and is enjoying school. Both children are happy, polite, studious and hard working.  They love their Dad and are incredibly grateful for his sacrifices and hard work in maintaining his family.

Duke’s story demonstrates that homelessness is a very real issue, even in the often forgotten rural and regional areas of the country.

This week is homeless person’s week in Australia.  We hope that by highlighting stories such as Duke’s, we will challenge traditional ideas of homelessness. That being homeless is not about deserving homelessness or making bad choices, that sometimes, homelessness happens despite a person’s best efforts. However, with the right support and options, together with the genuine desire of a father to care for his family, homeless can be overcome.

Find out more about Homeless Persons’ Week and how you can get involved.

Rural Housing Network Limited (RHNL) is committed to ending homelessness. Our vision is for all people to have safe, secure, affordable and appropriate housing. In the last year, the Rural Housing Network has worked with nearly 5000 people across the Goulburn and North East areas of Victoria – an area that spans 40,000 km sq.

Many of those 5000 people were homeless or at risk of homelessness with limited options available to them. Sadly, many of the people who accessed our service were children.

RHNL works in partnership with government, business, communities and individuals to provide housing and homelessness services and we thank MamaMia for posting Duke’s story to raise awareness of homelessness issues in regional Australia.