A family of four were evicted from their camping ground at the Bendigo Showgrounds this week.
Francis McMahon and her three children had been living in a tent for the last three months. Now, they have nothing.
Frankie uses Ice as often as she can. It’s her safety net. Her way of coping with the memories of her disastrous childhood in a violent home. Now, it’s taken nearly everything from her. With supervision orders in place from Community Services and no way to provide a stable home, she may lose her kids to the foster system.
“I don’t really remember where it all started going bad,” said Francis, or Frankie as she liked to be called. “I’ve always had the short end of the stick.”
Frankie had started using drugs when she was a teenager, and her life spiralled downhill from there. After a number of abusive relationships, she decided she’d be better off raising her three kids on her own.
“At least they won’t have to watch me getting beaten up every weekend,” Frankie said. “I can’t remember the last time I felt safe with a guy in my life.”
Frankie’s drug-ravaged face curls in fear and disappointment as she ponders her future, which seems empty and bleak. No job, no future, and no home.
“It’s out of my hands, I guess,” she said. “All I can do is hope for the best and expect the worst.”
For now, they are in a caravan park, using funding provided by Haven, but with no long-term prospects and the emergency housing in Bendigo in dire straits, Frankie has no idea what will happen to her and her kids.