When life spirals out of control, where do you turn?

Angela, a mother of five, has probably endured more setbacks in life than the average Australian.

After her ex-husband died of bowel cancer, life went from bad to worse as Angela struggled to support her young family.

It wasn’t long before she and her children found themselves homeless.

“I nursed my ex-husband in hospital and was with him when he died, then only a few months later my son Tom survived a serious shark attack. I was burnt out working so many jobs to support my family, and I got really sick with a chronic fatigue disease called M.E. I lost my main job. Everything spiralled down, and we found ourselves homeless,” Angela recalls.

“For six months I put kids with friends, slept under a friend’s house, shared a bunk with my son … my life went into a massive spin, and I couldn’t get over the next awful thing that happened after the last awful thing.”

It was then that The Salvation Army came into Angela’s life, and got her back on her feet.

“At the time they helped with food and meals, and housing and bills. They offered counselling, help to get to hospital, and a medic-alert bracelet,” she says.

Fast forward a number of years, and Angela once again found herself relying on the Salvos.

She was babysitting her three grandchildren, all under the age of three, when last year’s floods washed into town. The house went under and she lost everything.

“By the time the police rescue boat pulled up, we were standing in deep water. And it was still rising,” she says.

“I went straight to the Salvos. I couldn’t even talk. We were dripping wet, freezing cold, shaking and they just wrapped us all up like big angel’s wings. They cocooned me and held me and let me cry it out. We were all exhausted and I knew we’d lost absolutely everything.

“The Salvos were there for me again … they are just always there … whatever I needed would just appear. They have been a godsend.”

*Names changed to protect privacy.

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