Released from a heavy burden
It was with a heavy heart and little hope that 62-year-old Shirley* telephoned the Salvation Army’s Moneycare service.
Buckling under the weight of a credit-card debt she could never fully repay, Shirley had never forfeited on a repayment, but the personal cost had been significant.
As a series of health and other issues cut her income, she was eventually forced to live in her commuter van in car parks, rarely left with enough funds to book into a caravan park for the “luxury” of a shower.
Eloquent and fiercely determined not to portray herself as a victim, Shirley says life in her van is not terrible and takes ownership for her debt. However, according to Newcastle Moneycare counsellor Kristen Harnett, Shirley is far from alone.
Kristen says: “The financial wellbeing of women is impacted by a lower participation rate in the paid-labour market (taking on caring roles for children and ageing parents) and many more factors. According to the 2013 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, single females aged 60 have the highest poverty rate of any family group in Australia.”
Shirley says that for years she studied and worked part-time “while raising my lovely children”.
After a marriage break-up, followed by years as a single parent, a series of health problems, her son’s battle with multiple cancers, then his ongoing chronic depression, Shirley had to sell her home and slowly slipped into a spiral of debt.
At that time, she says: “I was trying to do a Diploma of Education by distance study so I could get a normal job teaching. I had taught French for years but was always self-employed. But, after a stroke, I could not study, or teach. At first, I could hardly form a sentence!
“For several years I used my credit cards to make payments, as well as things like pay for car repairs, and slowly I began to creep up toward the limit,” she explains.
At financial crisis point, sick with stress and having suffered a heart attack, she contacted banks and free advice services, but her situation remained unchanged.
“Moneycare was the last number on my list to call,” Shirley says. “I was so disheartened by then, that I almost did not call. But, Kristen was so compassionate, sincere, non-judgemental and eager to help, I was astonished. Even just the warmth from one phone call from her was very healing and heartening. I was – and still am – feeling shame and guilt and other emotions regarding my inability to meet debts and living in my car.”
Kristen immediately contacted Westpac and explained Shirley’s story. Within a week, the bank had wiped her debt on compassionate grounds. Then, after longer negotiations, a smaller debt was forgiven by another bank.
Shirley says: “I want to express sincere gratitude to the banks and to The Salvation Army – to Kristen in particular – for the wonderful gift. It was an immense relief.”
Kristen says that the spiral of poverty and debt is too easy to enter and often impossible to escape.
She says: “Shirley had been battling for a long time to honour her debts. While people can sustain that sort of pressure for a short while, eventually it gets overwhelming.
“At Moneycare, we don’t want people suffering in silence as long as Shirley did. We encourage people to seek help early, because the sooner we can take action, the better the results for all parties,” Kristen says.
* Name changed
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