A mother whose video about homelessness went viral has revealed the heartbreaking way she hides the dire reality from her children as they live in a moldy caravan.
Last month, Emma Lenz, 43, who lives in the Darling Downs region of south central Queensland, unleashed on property investors who she said had ‘taken all the houses’.
Her situation is all the more shocking because she runs her own gardening business, is a volunteer firefighter, and has paid about $500,000 in rent in her lifetime.
Ms Lenz and her two children – daughter Layla, 13, and son Bodhi, 10 – were left homeless when their rent became too much more than she could afford.
Now they live in a caravan and she tells the children that they are on an adventure.
A mom whose homelessness video went viral has revealed the heartbreaking way she hides the dire reality from her kids as they live in a moldy caravan
Last month, Emma Lenz (pictured), 43, who lives in the Darling Downs region of south central Queensland, unleashed on property investors who she said had ‘taken all the houses’
“I just try to make it feel like a vacation instead of homelessness,” she said.
Originally from Sydney, she moved to rural Queensland in hopes of a better life for her and her children after separating from her husband.
When they first got there, she said properties were being rented for $250 a week, but “the rent has doubled or even tripled since I’ve been here,” she shared. 7News.
Ms Lenz said renting had “broken” her after they became homeless and didn’t know where to go. “I just went to sleep in my car,” she said.
“So I put out an ad for places I could park my car to sleep in. Then a couple offered me their old caravan to sleep in.’
The mother said she had no hope of an immediate solution. “Every tenant here is traumatized. The stress of it all, it’s ridiculous.
“You have at least 50 or 60 people, if not more, trying to apply for every rental that comes in.
She tries to make the best of what she has, despite the caravan being 12 years old, leaking and covered in mould.
Ms Lenz (pictured), originally from Sydney, moved to rural Queensland in hopes of a better life for her and her children after separating from her husband
Some say she should have bought a house years ago, but Mrs. Lenz said, ‘If I could have bought a house twenty years ago, of course I would have.
“And then I wouldn’t be homeless and in this situation. But now I would take a cardboard box on a piece of land.
“I can’t keep living like this and I can’t keep renting.”
A friend of Mrs. Lenz has one GoFundMe page to raise money to support the family.
“Let’s house her and her children as soon as possible or give her a new caravan so that she and her children can live a good quality of life instead of living in a caravan that is not livable and is a concern for her health and that of hers.” children. wrote Clarissa Kitchener.
“I have known Emma for over 10 years and the struggle she is going through tears my heart to pieces.
“She never asks for nothing and would give her last away to someone less fortunate.”
Now they live in a caravan (pictured) and she tells the children that they are on an adventure. “I just try to make it feel like a vacation instead of homelessness,” she said
On her TikTok video, Ms. Lenz said she “can’t qualify for housing anywhere in Australia… because I’m not a crackhead I don’t qualify for social housing, so where the fuck are you Australia, seriously?”
She added that she “paid half a million in rent in my day, that’s enough for two houses here where I live now, but I’m homeless because when you pay rent you don’t get equity, you don’t get returns on Dat.’
Ms Lenz said that because her son is on the autism spectrum and can only attend school for an hour or two a day, she can only work part-time most weeks.
“We are the working poor. We have jobs… “We’re working our ass off,” she said.